# Any Known Negative Effects Due to Life Time of NO Sexual Contact? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 24, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300 "2015-06-24T00:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300/21 "2015-06-24T22:32:56Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > It makes you depressed > I’m 25 and I’ve never so much as held hands with a girl and I am miserable and want to die Wow I really feel for you, even though I never met you. Met OMAR LITTLE has given sound advice in a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300/22 "2015-06-24T22:36:11Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > I’d heard this before, and wonder if it is another “correlation vs. causation” thing. The class of “never-married men” would intrinsically include those who died young, but would have married if they hadn’t, weighting the average downward. Conversely the class of “never-married women” would include a lower proportion of women who have gone through childbirth with all the risks and complications thereof. I also wonder whether it is those with are single without a spouse or includes those who are not married but are in relationships. I doubt it includes the latter. As long as one has companion, a healthy relationship I don’t see any difference with a married person except for a marriage certificate. Plus research needs to go deeper and see what is causing the earlier deaths on average among never married men? We know smoking kills, well how so? By causing lung cancer, other cancers, stroke, heart disease, etc etc. SO HOW is being single over a lifetime exactly killing these men? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300/23 "2015-06-25T05:13:10Z")
> [@Nema98](#): > > Plus research needs to go deeper and see what is causing the earlier deaths on average among never married men? We know smoking kills, well how so? By causing lung cancer, other cancers, stroke, heart disease, etc etc. SO HOW is being single over a lifetime exactly killing these men? Every time I see any article mentioning this, is seems to be implied (but not overtly stated) that such people (specifically, older people living alone) are lonely and depressed, and the stress of this kills people earlier. I have another hypothesis: Occasionally people have sudden, abrupt life-threatening things happen (accidents or medical emergencies). People who live with someone (typically, a spouse) commonly are found before it’s too late and whisked to a hospital where they get treatment. OTOH, people who live alone and have a life-threatening event (e.g., falling and breaking a bone; stroke or other medical emergency) are often not found until the next time the rent is due and the landlord comes knocking. The statistic is commonly given that older people living alone have a reduced life-expectancy, the reduction usually being given as some small number of months. That doesn’t seem to be obviously significant. Of course, it’s an overall average. I think it’s probably skewed by the relatively small number of people who die _many years_ before their time because of emergencies, in contrast with the married older people who would not have died of those emergencies. My next door neighbor, an older female living alone, recently had such an event in the middle of the night. (An aneurysm, according to neighborhood gossip.) Her part-time care-giver dropped by and found her about 10:00 a.m. – If not for that, nobody might have noticed until the first week in July when the manager came looking for the rent. Maybe not even then, if the rent is getting paid directly and automatically by some agency. The story I’m hearing is that she is going to be more-or-less okay after some rehab. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300/24 "2015-06-25T05:57:48Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > So-called “self love” is commonly seen to be recommended for guys who can’t get laid, as if that actually solves anything. > > Sitting home alone jerking off may be useful for “cleaning out the pipes” and it might, y’know, actually feel good, but I don’t think you get your oxytocin fix doing that. It is no substitute at all for love, companionship, affection, and sex. Why can’t you get the oxytocin from self love? What if it’s really good porn? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300/25 "2015-06-25T21:15:21Z")
In females, celibacy correlates with higher rates of breast cancer (probably pregnancy-related diminished estrogen decreasing breast CA) and lower rates of cervical cancer (almost certainly HPV exposure). ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300/26 "2015-06-29T21:26:48Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > In females, celibacy correlates with higher rates of breast cancer (probably pregnancy-related diminished estrogen decreasing breast CA) and lower rates of cervical cancer (almost certainly HPV exposure). Interesting, the last one makes sense because people who never have sex obviously will not have HPV, hence lower rates of cervical cancer. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300/27 "2015-06-30T04:37:31Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > It’s healthy to vent prostatic fluids periodically. > > If this hypothetical case also involves no masturbation and no seminal emissions, then there are some health issues that can arise. This made me remember Pope Paul VI having [prostate surgery](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19671104&id=rc1NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RooDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4571,6263585&hl=en) in 1967. I’ve always assumed it was due to his celibacy, so I’ve made it a point to do all that I can do personally to avoid developing my own prostate problems. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-known-negative-effects-due-to-life-time-of-no-sexual-contact/723300.md?page=1)