Did You Know That These Jobs Could Lower Your Sex Drive?

Thursday, October 24, 2019, 16:10

Having a healthy sex drive is essential, in so many ways. Mostly taken for granted, having sex is not something everyone is interested in. Loss of sexual desire equally affects both men and women.

Known in medical terms as hypoactive sexual desire disorder, HSDD is one of the most common forms of sexual dysfunction among women of all ages. And low libido in men causes them to have decreased interest in sexual activity ^[1] . With various causes being the reason behind low sex drive, the article will look at the impact one's occupation or job has on their sexual drive.

Factors Affecting Your Sexual Health

Several factors can impact your sexual desire. Some of the most common factors are mentioned below ^[2] .

Your brain is one of the primary factors affecting your sexual desire. The brain triggers and regulates sexual desires, therefore, anything that impacts your brain such as stress and depression can be detrimental to your sexual health.

Lack of sleep, health conditions and lack of time are also factors affecting your sexual health. On exploring the factors responsible, we were able to link these to that of the occupations of individuals, gathering the understanding that certain types of jobs can negatively impact your sexual health and desire.

Be it physical or emotional, your job plays a significant role in your sexual desire ^[3] . Stressful jobs, jobs that increase your risk of cancer and the ones which require you to be continually exposed to high levels of heat and alike are on the top list of jobs that can affect your sex drive ^[4] .

By studying, comparing and analysing the different types of jobs that can pose a risk on one's sexual health, we have developed a list of jobs that can put your sexual desire or sexual health at risk.

Jobs That Lower Your Sex Drive

Here is a list of jobs that can pose a risk on your sexual health.

1. Healthcare professionals: Individuals working in the healthcare industry such as therapists, nurses, doctors and others, whose jobs involve taking care of ailing patients, witnessing tragic cases, and even death are at high risk due to the stressful nature of their job. That is because, when your body responds to stressful situations, essential functions such as your sex drive gets diminished ^[5] .

Stress can cause the release of hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine, which in high levels can cause decreased sex drive. And when the stress is chronic, the changes in cortisol levels can impact sex hormones, decreasing your interest in sex ^[4] .

2. Rubber manufacturers: Exposed to chemicals, chemical vapours, dust and other by-products, workers in rubber manufacturing have the risk of developing a lack of sexual desire. According to studies, workers who are exposed to very high levels of the chemical were four to seven times more likely to report sexual function problems than were workers with no occupational exposure chemicals ^[6] .

3. Recycling workers: The constant exposure to is extremely hazardous to one's health. Recycling works require individuals to crack open electronics and other hazardous materials, making them exposed to heavy metal toxicity, which can cause decreased sexual desire or none at all, studies reveal ^[7] .

4. Mechanics: Exposed to various types of carcinogens, people working with car engines and parts are prone to have a low sex drive. These carcinogens directly impact the sex hormones, shifting the level of sex hormones in the body and resulting in low libido ^[8] .

5. Miners: Various studies have explored the link between pollutants and sex drive and it has been asserted that the diesel exhaust and its particles produced in the mines trigger inflammation in blood vessels and starve the genitals of oxygen, affecting a man's ability to become aroused ^[9] .

6. Tailors: Seemingly a harmless job, tailoring is also included in the list of jobs that can hamper with your sex drive. According to studies, occupational stress is one of the major causes of low or lack of sex drive. The respondents of the study pointed out various health problems ranging from headache, migraine, stress, infections, nausea to pain in the joints, where most of it relates to the cause of lack of sex drive ^[10] .

7. Delivery personnel: The constant use of two-wheelers such as bikes can increase the risk of low sex drive in men. The continuous exposure to heat, that is produced from the petrol tank is harmful to the sexual organs as well as the whole body ^[11] . The right amount of sun and heat can increase your sexual desire, yes that is true. But the over-exposure leads to nothing but low libido in men. This is also applicable to men who constantly ride bikes.

Apart from the above-mentioned types of jobs, social workers, military personnel and people working in the hospitality industry can also develop a lack of sexual desire due to the amount of stress and trauma they undergo during work.

View Article References

[1] Kerckhof, M., Kreukels, B., Nieder, T., Becker, I., van de Grift, T., Heylens, G., & Elaut, E. (2019). The relation between sexual dysfunction and sexual pleasure in transgender individuals. In 21st Congress of the European Society for Sexual Medicine.
[2] Lotti, F., & Maggi, M. (2018). Sexual dysfunction and male infertility. Nature Reviews Urology, 15(5), 287.
[3] Goldstein, I., Clayton, A. H., Goldstein, A. T., Kim, N. N., & Kingsberg, S. A. (Eds.). (2018). Textbook of Female Sexual Function and Dysfunction: Diagnosis and Treatment. John Wiley & Sons.
[4] Weinberger, J. M., Houman, J., Caron, A. T., Patel, D. N., Baskin, A. S., Ackerman, A. L., ... & Anger, J. T. (2018). Female sexual dysfunction and the placebo effect: a meta-analysis. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 132(2), 453-458.
[5] Yazdanpanahi, Z., Nikkholgh, M., Akbarzadeh, M., & Pourahmad, S. (2018). Stress, anxiety, depression, and sexual dysfunction among postmenopausal women in Shiraz, Iran, 2015. Journal of family & community medicine, 25(2), 82.
[6] Chen, L., Shi, G. R., Huang, D. D., Li, Y., Ma, C. C., Shi, M., ... & Shi, G. J. (2019). Male sexual dysfunction: a review of literature on its pathological mechanisms, potential risk factors, and herbal drug intervention. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 112, 108585.
[7] Saini, S. R., & Saini, D. (2019). A CLINICAL STUDY OF KATAKA CHURNA ON MALE SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION & POOR VISION. International Journal of Medical and Biomedical Studies, 3(3).
[8] Ikhuoria, E. B., & Bach, C. (2018). Introduction to Breast Carcinogenesis–Symptoms, Risks factors, Treatment and Management. European Journal of Engineering Research and Science, 3(7), 58-66.
[9] Zhao, S., Wang, J., Xie, Q., Luo, L., Zhu, Z., Liu, Y., ... & Zhao, Z. (2019). Elucidating Mechanisms of Long-Term Gasoline Vehicle Exhaust Exposure–Induced Erectile Dysfunction in a Rat Model. The journal of sexual medicine, 16(2), 155-167.
[10] Ravichandran, S. P., & Shah, P. B. (2018). Health problems and risk factors prevailing among garment workers in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health, 5(6), 2400-2405.
[11] Zhao, S., Li, E., Wang, J., Luo, L., Luo, J., & Zhao, Z. (2018). Rheumatoid Arthritis and Risk of Sexual Dysfunction: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis. The Journal of rheumatology, 45(10), 1375-1382.