Sexual Wellness: A Movement Happening Worldwide - Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia

Editorial

Sexual Wellness: A Movement Happening Worldwide

Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2023;45(12):745-746

DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1777700

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Sexual Health (SH) is an area that requires special attention, as it is directly related to sexual behavior, which has the potential to impact sexual and reproductive health. In 1994, in Cairo, the Program of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development included SH in the definition of reproductive health, indicating that SH extends beyond reproductive care and counseling for sexually transmitted diseases, but aims to promote sexual pleasure, which is fundamental to human health. Thus, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) became the area responsible for promoting SH from the perspective of pleasure, which is essential for physical and mental health, as well as for people’s quality of life. A pleasurable sexual life promotes assertiveness in social and marital relationships, contributing to the longevity of interpersonal relationships. Conversely, sexual dysfunctions negatively interfere with people’s quality of life and mental health, being associated with conditions such as anxiety, emotional stress, depression, cardiovascular disease, chronic pelvic pain, among other.

Historically, issues related to sexual experience have been permeated by taboo, and in the clinical context, most Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) programs focus on contraception, teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections, which represent the tip of an iceberg supported by a broad base of biological, psychological, and environmental factors associated with risky sexual behaviors that lead to these pathologies. Each individual has their own motivations for seeking sexual pleasure; however, physiological sexual drive is a common motivation for most individuals. During puberty, the increase in androgens promotes an exacerbation of spontaneous sexual thoughts and an increase in interest in emotional relationships and sexual activity. Sexual drive is the result of a complex motivation and reward mechanism elaborated in the limbic system (LS) and certain areas of the prefrontal córtex. This mechanism is linked to certain neurotransmitters that act in the LS, such as the nucleus accumbens and the anteromedial preoptic area, which are associated with dopamine, playing a central role in the experience of reward and pleasure. These areas are connected to certain cortical regions of the central nervous system, which play a role in either positively or negatively modulating sexual impulse.

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