People in religious orders also tend to live longer, but it isn’t because the convent is orgy central.
Have you ever been celibate for extended periods of time? I have, and it sucks. That may or may not be an ‘adverse effect’, but you’re going to have a hard time convincing someone that abstinence is preferable. Sex is definitely better than no sex. I don’t see how anybody could argue otherwise.
The burden of proof is on those who argue that virginity, abstinence and celibacy are virtues. They are not. At best they are neutral.
Have you ever been celibate for extended periods of time? I have, and it wasn’t any big deal. I was busy with other things and poured my creative energies into other outlets. The only negative effect I experienced was the social pressure to HAVE SEX already. When left to my own devices, I didn’t experience any other adverse effects.
I currently have a pretty decently active sex life and a fulfilling partnership now, by the way, so I’m not some sexless, frigid freak – in case anyone was wondering. 
Is is better now that I’m having sex? Ummm… I can’t really say. I’m in a different phase of my life, with different interests.
So, I guess one could say “it varies.”
Isn’t it true that if “you don’t use it, you lose it.” ?
I haven’t had sex or an orgasm for over 12 years. I used to miss it a lot, but I’ve since forgotten what it felt like. I don’t think it’s driven me crazy, but how would I know? 
It is very difficult for me to reach orgasm due to an injury. To add to that condition, I am being treated for severe depression (not due to lack of sex) and some of the medication causes a certain loss of sensation. Plus, I’m 68 and one has to expect a somewhat diminished performance ability as one ages. But, in my case at least, the drive has not disappeared but the ability to reach orgasm has greatly diminished. I’m lucky in that I have a very understanding wife.
A guy I know, about your age, says in a very comic way
[sub]Loosely translated from the original in Spanish.[/sub]
Yes, I have, and I have not suffered anything as a result. That’s part of what prompted this thread.
I would certainly argue against the claim that “sex is definitely better”. Obviously in some cases sex can lead to unwanted pregnancies, disease, psychological issues and other problems. In other cases sex is great. In the end, however, there’s no justification for saying that having sex is necessary for good health.
I would argue that the lack of sex itself is an adverse effect that one suffers. If you can go from sex to no sex without missing it, it must not have been very good. YMMV and all that.
Well, I agree with you that sex can lead to pregnancy and STDs and also that there are no deleterious effects on one’s health from being abstinent. However, responsible sex with someone you know and trust is safer than pretty much any other daily activity average people engage in, including showering and watching tv. Plus you get a little exercise, too.
Ultimately, though, I just came in this thread to challenge the complementary view: What are the benefits of virginity and celibacy? I’m talking about celibacy for celibacy’s sake, not just waiting until the right person comes along. I don’t think celibacy is something people should particularly encourage, and the ones encouraging it usually tend to view an active sex life as a bad thing.
In short, it may not harm you to abstain from sex, but I see no reason to prefer a sexless life.
I suppose it probably depends upon the person. Some people apparently find it pretty difficult to go without sex for any long period of time. For others, it’s an easy thing to lose that won’t be missed. I don’t think it makes sense to assume that one’s own sexual drive and needs are going to be reflected exactly by other people.
That said, I don’t know of any significant negative physical effects. It seems to be more in the line of mental ones, and we can’t generalise so easily on that particular point.
There is no doubt that some people can go without sex and live great fulfilling lives. But to say that, in the general case, “there’s no justification for saying that having sex is necessary for good health” is a bit lopsided. Everybody has sex. There’s a reason. Lack of sex causes almost everyone to want sex (even if we don’t allow for any other negative health reprucussions).
Also, your inclusion of STDs and unwanted pregnancies really doesn’t belong in this discussion as it has been taking place up until this last post of yours. These are not large factors to responsible people. If you are responsible enough to abstain from sex, surely you are responsible enough to use a condom? You also mention psychological issues… Psychological issues (and likely social issues) coming from artificially imposed abstienence are obvious risks, so including psychological issues is a bad potential side effect of sex is absurd.
BTW, I am someone who didn’t have sex until my mid twenties. I’m not claiming that I couldn’t have lived a happy life without sex, but it would have been necessarily limited in particular respects. This is not to put down those who choose to abstain, but it’s not “cultural pressure” that drives 99.999% of us to have sex throughout our lives. The idea that there might be some (at least psychological) health risks to totally abstaining from our #1 biological prime directive is pretty reasonable.
Men can experience pain and discomfort due to abstinence, can’t they? I’d call that adverse, even if it’s temporary and doesn’t cause any actual lasting damage.
I’ve never experienced any.
But that can be alleviated with masturbation. And women feel pain and discomfort as well. (Well, this woman does!)
So long as your only referring to voluntarily abstaining from it, then I’d agree there’s little real physical or psychological damage to be done. I include psychological because I feel that it would be a self-regulating thing, i.e. once abstaining started to cause noticeably detrimental emotional effects (more detrimental than having sex may have caused) a normal person would no longer abstain.
As far as it being not voluntary, I think its obvious that it would cause huge emotional problems, which would cause psychological ones, which in turn can and, I think would, cause physiological ones as well.
The link between mental and physical health is pretty well established, its just impossible to accurately predict. To open a whole can of worms, Google involuntary celibacy…
I thought we were counting masturbation as sex in the context of this question - excluding it does seem completely self-defeating - the genitals don’t really know or care what it is that’s stimulating them.
Ah, fair enough. I was reading “abstinence” as abstaining from intercourse with another person, not as abstaining from any kind of stimulation. Yes, in that case, blue balls (or…blue…uh, lips?) is definitely an issue.
My old roommate used to cry if he didn’t get laid for more than a week (usually his own damn fault after he got caught cheating on his GF upteen times). :rolleyes:
I guess the adverse effects highly depend on how much value you put into it. I haven’t gotten laid in over a year and still have a chick I have to regularly turn down.