Most men are familiar with hearing, “I’m exhausted,” in response to a request for sex from their significant other at the end of the day. It seems like the “I’m too tired” excuse is replacing “I have a headache” as a reason not to get busy with your mate. While it may seem unfair to dudes (especially if used often), science has proven there is in fact a correlation between sleep deprivation and sexual arousal in women.
Surprisingly, lack of sleep had been mostly overlooked during studies on women’s sexual problems. Medical and/or psychological issues were primarily considered the culprits for diminished sexual interest.
However, a new study, which was recently published by the Journal of Sexual Medicine, sought to change that. They gathered 171 female test subjects, more than half of which claimed to have at least one sexual partner at the beginning of the study.
Over two weeks, these 171 women were asked to monitor their sleep habits along with their sexual habits. Every day they were asked whether or not they had engaged in any sexual activity the previous day (yes, this included non-vaginal sexual activity and masturbation). They were also asked how many hours they slept the night before, and to describe the quality of sleep.
What they found was pretty astonishing. Women who increased their sleep time by one hour also increased their likelihood of having sex with their partner by 14 percent. Moreover, vaginal arousal also escalates with more sleep. So it seems, a good night’s sleep is the key to staying healthy overall, including sexually.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that if women just hit the sack a couple hours earlier, they’ll be on the same sexual plane as their male partners. It has been proven many times over that men overall tend to have a higher sex drive than women. According to a study called Sleep which was published in 2013, it takes one night of sleep deprivation in men to perceive their female partner’s arousal levels as on par with their own. So if you ever want to even the sexual playing field, try using a tranquilizer dart on him (no really, don’t).
Image: Giphy
Now this does not mean that women should get a lot more sleep and men should get a lot less in order to meet each other in the sexual middle. Not only would that be ridiculous, the reason behind men’s incorrect perception of women’s sexual levels is because lack of sleep affects the frontal lobe similarly to heavy drinking — meaning you’re not thinking clearly, which is needless to say, not good.
The moral here is everyone should try and get as much sleep as possible in order to maintain a healthy sex life. So if you fall asleep with your mate at 10 p.m. on a Friday or Saturday while bingeing on Netflix, don’t beat yourself up. You’ll be greatly improving your chances of a sex-filled Saturday or Sunday, which I think we all can agree is better than rolling home at 4 a.m., and spending the next day in a hangover coma.
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