Quick summary
- Low libido and lack of sex drive are common sexual dysfunctions that affect both men and women, and can be caused by a variety of physiological and psychological factors, including low testosterone, stress, anxiety, depression, lifestyle diseases, lack of sleep quality, medication, exercise, smoking and alcohol, and drug abuse.
- While some of these factors, such as aging, are inevitable, others can be managed through lifestyle changes such as exercise, meditation, and herbal remedies, or clinical therapeutics such as medication and counseling.
- It is important for individuals to identify the root cause of their low libido or lack of sex drive, and work towards reversing the condition by making positive changes to their lifestyle, seeking medical attention when necessary, and prioritizing their overall health and wellbeing.
Low libido 1 is a common sexual dysfunction and statistics say that at least 43 percent of women and 31 percent of men might have faced this problem.
In the 21st century, sexual dysfunction is a common issue, and many think that they should be classified under lifestyle diseases since low libido and lifestyle have a strong link.
In a US-based study, it was found that at least 10 percent of men had some kind of sexual dysfunction upon hitting 40’s and 80 percent of men face if after passing 70’s.
Lack of drive is usually characterized by abstinence from sex, masturbation, premature ejaculation, lack of fantasies, no foreplay, spends little time with the partner, lack of arousal, etc.
Though aging2 is a significant factor, there are a lot of lifestyle problems leading to low libido and lack of sex drive.
In this article, we are going to explore more about the causes of low libido and lack of sex drive in men.
Without adding more words, let us explore in detail.
Read more: Best Supplements To Boost Male’s Libido
Low libido and lack of sex drive
Reasons can be a hundred, but the fact is that a significant percentage of the population suffers from lack of drive at least for a temporary period.
The human body has a natural repair mechanism to reverse the lack of desire, but when an irreparable fault occurs, the problem is often classified as sexual dysfunction.
Low libido is often a gradual process, and it is characterized by a decrease in ‘interest’ to get engaged in sexual activities.
A person with low libido still can get arousal, but not as much as the person used to have.
Also, a person with low libido might feel unpleasant towards sexual stimuli and would even disparage his partner.
Whereas ‘lack of desire or drive’ is more of a mental process and as a result, the person doesn’t get a spark for sex.
There are high chances that a lack of desire can cause no arousal in the person when exposed to sexual stimuli.
Why it happens in men?
Digging through the causes of low libido and lack of drive, there are several physiological, & psychological factors which somehow is linked to lifestyle or routine of a person.
Some of the most common causes of these problems are explained below.
1. Low testosterone
Without out a doubt, if you are low on t-hormone, then the first and foremost symptom is the lack of drive followed by low libido and finally sexual disorders like erectile dysfunction.
The healthy levels of testosterone in males are supposed to range from 300ng/dL to 1000 ng/dL.
With the current lifestyle, the value could quickly plummet below 300ng/dL and some of the factors like obesity, high blood pressure, etc. would speed up this process as well.
Boosting natural testosterone is the best choice to bridle the issue, and there are steroid & other herbal supplements to aid the recovery of testosterone levels.
However, all the recovery measures will only be valid in a sexually active age gap, because there is a natural drop in the t-levels with age.
2. Stress, anxiety, and depression
These are the three levels of psychological imbalance and its progression.
It starts off with stress, which, over time, becomes anxiety and finally ending up in depression.
The stress can be because of job, family life, disease condition, or even because of sex-related things.
If the stress is not managed on time, it can become an anxious thought in mind which carves you from inside.
The anxiety will finally push you into depression and will give you a hard time in your sex life.
Management of these psychological conditions either by yoga, meditation, medication, proper exercise, lifestyle, or counseling are the choices available.
3. Lifestyle diseases
Yeah, they have a significant role in causing low libido and lack of sex drive, and that’s the reason why they are in our list.
The most common lifestyle diseases linked to sexual dysfunction are:
- Hypertension.
- Diabetes (Type II).
- Liver disorders.
- Kidney failure.
- Lung disorders.
- Obesity.
Studies have shown that some diseases like cancer can reduce sperm production.
With these chronic conditions, a person will have a lot of metabolic shortcomings which, in fact, would reflect in their sex life as well.
One way to is to prevent lifestyle diseases is by- “obviously building a healthy ‘lifestyle’ itself.”
Exercising, yoga, meditation, herbal remediations, or clinical therapeutics should be adopted at the right time to treat lifestyle diseases.
4. Lack of sleep quality
This problem is much more severe than you think because the role of sleep in the overall wellbeing is pivotal.
A person could be in critical danger if they skip sleep for more than 36 hours straight.
Sleep is actually how the body is resting and rejuvenating from previous days working.
When you cut short your sleep by 5 hours for a week, there is a 10 % to 15 % decrease in testosterone levels.
Sleep-deprived men are usually less energetic and appear sluggish; for this reason, they lack the sexual drive and would turn away from any sexual stimuli.
5. Medications
Sometimes you can’t move forward without certain medications, and they are the necessary evils.
In most of the cases, they are lifesavers, but these medicines could have been avoided in the first place like the ones used for treating lifestyle diseases.
A therapeutic drug is often a chemically active compound that could either inhibit, compete, activate, or replace specific biomolecules to regulate various biological processes.
Though your disease might be fixed, most of the drugs do affect the person’s sexual trigger and libido adversely.
For example, beta-blockers or ACE inhibitors used for treating hypertension can cause delayed ejaculation or no ejaculation at all.
6. Exercise
In the modern-day context, not doing exercise is more like depriving yourself of sleep.
Exercise has become a mandatory physical activity to keep things under control, and all thanks to our lifestyle and excess food.
Giving ample workout to muscles ensures greater flexibility and enhances blood flow into the organs, which in fact is very important for sex.
When you exercise regularly, the majority of the lifestyle diseases won’t even put their shadow over you.
Plus, moderate workouts are known to reduce stress, especially during the night, which is an excellent gateway for a good night sex.
But on the contrary, over-exercising can also adversely affect the sexual drive in men since the body will focus more on recovery from exercising than giving your sexual spark.
7. Smoking and alcohol
These brothers are one of the classic ruckus creators in mankind, and they have found their way into destroying libido and sex drive as well.
The smell of these substances isn’t always a welcome by the women and might give them an instant turn off.
And they are known to decrease the testosterone production by a significant margin when overused.
Liver and lung disorders tailing their abuse might create a more adverse effect on the reproductive capabilities of a person.
8. Drug abuse
People indulged in drug abuse often don’t find time to enjoy sex, because the pleasure in trade is much superior to what sex could offer.
When drug use levels up, the body’s natural neurotransmitters and their receptors would change in configuration or number to accommodate newer artificial chemical molecules.
This adjustment by the body would overtime eliminate the initiation of sex in the user, thus creating complete impotence in many cases.
Conclusion
Above explained are some of the common causes resulting in low libido and lack of sexual drive in males.
If you are experiencing either of two, then the possible reason might be on this list, and focusing on fixing them would help you reverse the condition.
Not always doctors are required to find a cure for your sexual problems, because most of the times you create it, like in the case ‘lifestyle diseases.’
Often the cure lies in your pocket and all you need to do it simply work it out and see how it helps your sex life.
Read more: 8 Easy Exercises To Improve Your Sexual Performance
References
- Graziottin, Alessandra. “Libido: the biologic scenario.” Maturitas 34 (2000): S9-S16. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378512299000729
- Travison, Thomas G., et al. “The relationship between libido and testosterone levels in aging men.” The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 91.7 (2006): 2509-2513. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/91/7/2509/2656285
