Did you know that your brain is your primary "sex organ"? Yes, most people think of their primary sex organs as being above their waist, but the truth is it is above the shoulders.
In fact, if you can stimulate the septal region in your limbic brain, it will stimulate everything else in your body.
When the septal region is stimulated brain chemicals called neurotransmitters send messages to simulate blood flow to the sex organs below the waist.
Depression also involves the neurotransmitters in the brain.
When you are depressed these chemicals can also be depressed and thrown off balance.
The result is that your desire for sex is so reduced, if present at all, that you begin to feel like you're no longer a sexual being.
In fact, some of these brain chemicals when low reduce all feelings of pleasure.
That's why you feel numb when you are clinically depressed.
When you have no desire for engaging in a sexual relationship with your partner relationship problems develop or worsen.
When one partner doesn't feel desired by the other, even if the reason has nothing to do with him or her, the partner feels rejected.
He or she loses self-confidence.
The relationship suffers which can lead to a deepening of the mood disorder.
One of the most common pharmaceutical treatments for depression is antidepressants.
About 33% of those taking this medication find that they have either decreased or no desire to make love with their partner.
If they do make love they may experience difficulty in being aroused and problems in achieving orgasm.
Some men experience problems in having an erection.
All of these problems lead to a greater loss of self-confidence, more deterioration in the relationship and a deeper sense of despair.
If you are having sexual problems you might want to consider an evaluation by a mental health professional to discover if you or your partner is suffering from depression.
If there is a mental health diagnosis, you would benefit more by resolving the mood disorder through therapy rather than medication.
Sometimes simple strategies to change behavior and thought patterns can alleviate feelings of numbness, anxiety and hopelessness.
The therapist can also assist in identify unresolved grief issues that may be the root of your problems.
If you are sad or unhappy about something in your life, and are doing your best to deny the problem is there, you may be using tremendous amounts of emotional energy to keep those feelings down.
This can result in numbing the rest of your life.
Use medication as a last resort.
You'll be happier and healthier if you confront your issues directly.