Sex drive is a natural part of human existence. Our bodies are biologically programmed to reproduce, which creates a sexual urge to fulfill this basic instinct that almost all living things experience. Unlike most animals, humans don’t only have sex for biological reasons- we also have sex for pleasure. This can drive our sexual desire to be greater than most and can even be a distracting issue to deal with.
There are times when sexual drive and feeling horny are beneficial. Sexual encounters and intimate moments thrive because of these natural urges. While sexual energy can be helpful, it can also be harmful and even problematic in certain situations. A wrong place, wrong time type of situation. If you feel that your sex drive is hindering your productivity, focus, and other aspects of your life, it may be a good idea to try and find ways to curb these sexual desires. Channeling your sexual energy into appropriate outlets and spaces is the key to having health in all different areas of your life.
So, what causes horniness? When is feeling horny problematic, and when is it necessary? How can you stop being horny? We’ll take a look at all of the sexual desire basics, as well as how to avoid them when they aren’t wanted or needed. By the end of this article, you’re sure to feel confident about your ability to appropriately manage your sexual energy.
What Causes Horniness
Everyone has a different level of their sexual drive. How horny you are can be called libido- and libido can be too low, causing a lack of sexual desire, or too high, which causes an interference with your daily life. While these things can vary greatly by each person, there is no such thing as being too horny. Having a high libido won’t affect your health, though it can be troubling when trying to do non-sexual activities. When it comes to sex drive, there are many things that can cause an increase in libido. We’ll take a look at some of the most common factors.
Hormones
Hormones rule many bodily functions, including our sex drive. Testosterone is known to be greatly linked with sex drive and horniness in all genders. When your testosterone is high, you may be feeling more horny than usual. Many factors can increase your testosterone levels, including ovulation, regular exercise, experiencing puberty, and much more.
While testosterone may be linked to feeling horny, many other hormones also play a part in our sex drive and libido levels. For example, estrogen is linked with physiological arousals, such as blood flow to the genitals and vaginal lubrication. Where testosterone plays a big role in the feeling of being horny, estrogen affects how that feeling physically manifests.
Pleasure, connection, and arousal hormones can also be a big factor in how horny we feel. Dopamine and oxytocin are known for triggering pleasure when released, which is why we may feel hornier when we begin a new relationship. These pleasure hormones tend to increase when we experience the height of romance.
Alcohol
Generally speaking, many people find that alcohol can make them feel hornier than when they are sober. While the feelings of horniness and alcohol may seem to be correlated, it’s a complicated relationship. While alcohol increases sexual desire, arousal, and pleasure for women, it seems to lower physiological arousal.
This opposite effect on physiological arousal that alcohol causes may be due to an increase in testosterone, as well as decreasing genital responsiveness. This means that while you may feel hornier when consuming alcohol, it may be harder to satisfy that feeling with an orgasm. Overall, lowered inhibitions that may be produced by alcohol can make individuals more open to sexual experiences than they may typically be when they’re sober.
Diet
Diet affects many different parts of our physiological well-being. Certain dietary components can make us feel energized, full, and even more horny than usual. Certain foods known as aphrodisiacs are believed to increase libido in various individuals. If your diet is rich in aphrodisiacs, they may be to blame for feeling hornier than you usually do.
Phenylethylamine, also known as PEA, is a substance in various foods, such as chocolate and cheese. This substance is a natural amphetamine that’s created in the brain, triggering a response to the feeling of love. PEA plays a big role in the hormonal rush we experience during sexual encounters. Other aphrodisiacs such as oysters, omega-3 fats, and avocados contain vitamins and minerals that contribute to overall health. By supporting our health, these foods support our hormones and sexual health, which may contribute to increased horniness.
Menstrual Cycle
The menstrual cycle consists of many different hormonal changes and fluctuations that occur. If you’ve ever noticed that you feel hornier during or before your period, this is actually a common experience. These said hormonal changes and shifts can increase and decrease libido.
Ovulation is known as the peak of both estrogen and testosterone levels, which occurs about fourteen days before your period. When this influx of hormones occurs, the sex drive seems to increase. Once the period has begun, there is an increase in blood flow to the pelvic and genital regions. You can think of this increased blood flow as being similar to what occurs during an erection. And similar to an erection, increase blood flow to the vagina may increase sexual desire.
Frequent Masturbation
Masturbation is an activity most individuals engage in but just how regularly they engage in masturbation can vary greatly. Some may masturbate on a regular basis, such as a few times a week, while others may only engage in masturbation once in a blue moon. The level at which you masturbate regularly can impact many different areas of health and lifestyle, including how horny you are.
Sometimes, we may ignore our natural sex drive and arousal cues due to stress, distractions, lack of partners, and many other reasons. In doing so, we may be causing our arousal cues to go dormant, therefore lowering our libido. By engaging in sexual activity, such as masturbation, we are reactivating our arousal cues and making it easier to feel horny by increasing our sex drive.
In addition to arousal cues, masturbation also increases various hormones that trigger horniness, such as dopamine and testosterone. Finally, individuals who frequently masturbate often know what they like and can communicate this to their partner- which can lead to greater sexual satisfaction and better intimacy, all thanks to sexual communication.
How To Stop Being Horny
While feeling horny and having a high sex drive may be useful for some instances, it can get in the way of various day-to-day activities and responsibilities. Being horny in appropriate situations, such as with a partner, is great. Being horny when at work, exercising, or doing other tasks is not so great. We’ll take a look at how to stop being horny so that you can find the balance between everyday life and a high sex drive.
Engaging in Sexual Activity
One of the most obvious ways to stop feeling horny is by satisfying the sexual urge you may be feeling. Having intercourse, oral sex, or other sexual acts with your partner can help eliminate those feelings and help you go about your day.
Having sex regularly is known to increase overall relationship satisfaction. In addition, it can also lower stress and even increase cognitive functioning. The next time you’re feeling horny and have a consenting partner, turn to sexual activities to get rid of any sexual frustration that horniness may cause.
Masturbating
Sometimes, feeling horny may not always come with the benefit of having a consenting partner nearby- and that’s okay! Horniness can be minimized in many different ways, including regular masturbation. While masturbation may increase sex drive, it also helps relieve it when it’s at its peak.
Aside from helping you feel less horny, masturbation has many other benefits. It can help strengthen your pelvic floor, relieve stress, increase happiness, and improve sleep and energy levels. There are many different reasons that people may choose to masturbate- but feeling horny is definitely one of the most common ones.
Exercise
There is an abundance of different reasons why regular exercise is a necessity. Exercise keeps us healthy, in a healthy weight range, and can even help reduce horniness. When you are feeling horny and can’t engage in sexual activities or masturbation to curb it, consider going for a run, lifting weights, or whatever other physical activities you enjoy when it comes to exercising.
Exercise is known to help lower stress and release those feel-good hormones that we see during sex. It may also help reduce and release some built-up sexual tension. Exercise is a great way to help you stop feeling horny.
Practicing Mindfulness
Mindfulness is increasingly popular in today’s society, with good reason. The main objective behind practicing mindfulness is to connect with the breath and focus on the present moment. It can alleviate stress, anxiety, and even that horny feeling when it isn’t appropriate. Mindfulness meditations have been used to help treat addiction and may help with compulsive sexual behavior.
During mindfulness practices, you will let your thoughts drift away, rather than focusing on and feeding energy into them. When it comes to horniness with mindful practices, you will notice that your mind and/or body are horny, but that’s all. Once you’ve acknowledged this feeling, you can move your attention elsewhere. The key is to not allow yourself to become frustrated by feeling horny, which will only cause you to think about this feeling even more.
Pay Attention to Your Diet
As discussed earlier, certain dietary components can affect your libido levels. Aphrodisiacs can cause you to feel horny when they are abundant in your diet. While many people may look into aphrodisiacs to increase their libido, others may take interest in them to decrease their horny feelings.
If you think you may be eating an abundance of foods that increase sex drive, consider reducing them. Artichokes, chili peppers, and other foods may be contributing to your abundance of sexual drive. Decreasing these foods can help you naturally stop feeling so horny and balance your libido and other feelings throughout the day.
Minimize Sexual Stimulation in Your Environment
We all have different things that make us tick and may turn us on. Reading certain books, listening to specific songs, engaging in various abdominal exercises, and even the way certain clothes fit can cause you to feel sexually aroused. Texting your partner or seeing photos of them may cause you to feel horny seemingly out of nowhere.
If you can’t figure out what’s making you horny, pay close attention to different areas and aspects of your life. Maybe eating a certain meal suddenly makes you feel aroused, this may be a good point to start. Consider limiting the amount of stimulation you consume and see if this helps decrease your sex drive.
Keep Yourself Busy
Diving into engaging activities is one of the best ways to decrease horniness. Doing so goes beyond just finding busy work to fill your day with. You need to find activities that make you tick and you can get lost in for hours. Letting these activities take over your focus and hours of your day is a great way to put those horny feelings to bed for a little bit.
Reading, painting, fixing old cars, and many other hobbies are great ways to keep yourself busy and keep your mind at ease. Regularly practicing your hobbies is one of the best ways to find a balance between sex drive and everyday life.
Check Your Medications
Medications can be used to treat all different conditions, and many of them may interfere with different aspects of your sexual health. Low libido, lack of lubrication, erectile dysfunction, orgasm issues, and much more can often be associated with various medications. On the other hand, some medications do the exact opposite.
Because of this, it’s a good idea to take a closer look at the medications that you’re consuming when trying to decrease your libido. Even changes in dosages can be a cause of libido increase- even in medications that may usually decrease sex drive, such as birth control. If horniness caused by medications becomes a serious concern, be sure to talk to your doctor.
When To Be Concerned
At times, horniness can be caused by various conditions. Because of this, it’s a good idea to bring up excessive sex drive to your doctor. One good example of horniness that’s related to medical concerns is bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder causes manic and depressive episodes — and during manic episodes, people may engage in risky behaviors, such as drugs or sexual activities.
People with bipolar disorder may not be very horny all of the time. Instead, they may have a harder time fighting and controlling their sexual urges. In addition to bipolar disorder, those with a borderline personality disorder may also experience increased horny feelings. Research has shown that individuals with a borderline personality disorder diagnosis are more likely to show higher amounts of sexual preoccupation.
Finally, brain damage can even affect libido levels and can be to blame in some situations where horniness is on the rise. This can lean towards representing that excessive horniness may not be about desire, but rooted in the brain’s lack of ability to conform to social expectations. The lack of ability within the brain may explain why some Alzheimer’s and dementia patients can display hypersexual behaviors as well.
Not all excessive horniness is related to underlying conditions. Be sure to speak with your doctor regarding your concerns, if you have any, and they will be able to point you down the right path.
Horniness is usually a good thing, when in the appropriate settings. When these horny feelings begin to interfere with your everyday life, it can be rather stressful and annoying. There are many reasons that humans become horny- hormones, foods, sexual stimulation, and more. When this feeling begins to be problematic, it’s a good idea to consider how you can reduce your libido levels as needed.
There are many outlets that you can utilize in order to feel less horny. Sexual activities and masturbation are often the first that come to mind, and while they are highly effective, there are other ways to accomplish the same goals. Exercise, staying busy, mindfulness, diet, and medications can all be considered and used to your advantage. When trying to be less horny, be sure to try different methods and see what works best for you. Some individuals may feel relief from regular exercise, while others may find that keeping themselves busy with hobbies is the best way to reduce their horniness. Don’t be afraid to contact a doctor if you have concerns about how horny you’re feeling.
With some time and trying different methods, as well as understanding what triggers horny feelings and sexual urges, you’re sure to find the best way to reduce your horniness.
