Note: This is an article I wrote in 2020 for a sex toy company who have since majorly fucked me over (not in the fun way), so I feel no qualms about sharing it here 😂 Hope you enjoy!
There are lots of skills you learn as a person with chronic clinical depression. How to explain your mental health history to a new doctor. How to procure yourself a decent meal when you can barely get out of bed. How to gently decline a social invitation when chipper small-talk feels impossible. One of the skills I’ve had to learn in my journey is how to adjust my sex life when depression comes a-knockin’.
Contrary to popular belief, depression doesn’t automatically drain the sexual desire from those it afflicts. Mental health advocate JoEllen Notte conducted an informal study of depressed folks for her book The Monster Under the Bed: Sex, Depression, and the Conversations We Aren’t Having, and found that more than a quarter of her respondents reported an increase in libido during depressive episodes.