Claire Diaz

There's no doubt the state of the world is pretty cooked right now.

And unfortunately, I wish this wasn't the case, but it really does impact our sex lives.

I started studying several years ago.

I've been practicing for just over two years now.

I'm a new sexologist on the scene.

Yeah there's no doubt the state of the world is pretty cooked right now and unfortunately I wish this wasn't the case but it really does impact our sex lives and I think a really easeful way to look at this is pleasure is incredibly and closely connected to the nervous system.

So when the nervous system is out of whack, which happens when we're in stress or chronic stress or burnout, it's really easy for us to lose our connection to pleasure.

And that might look like having low libido, low sexual desire, or just in general feeling disconnected from your pleasure or intimacy with a partner.

Yeah, I think all of those different scenarios will be different depending on the individual.

But I think the overall theme in that is that the nervous system is dysregulated.

And whether it's a state of grief or chronic stress, you're in a state of survival.

Your body is perceiving that there's a threat and you're not in your homeostasis or stable state.

And for example, in stress, it's really easy for you to become hyper aroused.

So your nervous system gets activated, which means neurobiologically, there's more cortisol in your body, your sympathetic nervous system is activated, and automatically that shuts down your reward system to experience pleasure.

And it's a really similar thing, but potentially different in grief, depending on what the person is experiencing.

But often in grief, you're actually in more of a state of shutdown, where you move down into a hypo arousal state.

And again, it's a similar experience.

Yeah, stress is such a huge one and unfortunately so many of us get stuck in this stress response cycle that never gets a break.

And so what that might usually look like is a client feeling agitated or frustrated and heightened because they're not getting enough rest and slowing down.

And that looks like in the clinic space, someone presenting with low libido and