The only people who might be surprised to learn that seniors tend to be happier when they are sexually active would be younger people. When they get older, which is the natural order of things, let's face it, they will understand.
The concept of sexually active seniors may make some people uncomfortable. They may be trying not to think about their parents, or even more uncomfortable, their grandparents.
It's a different picture if you are the sexually active senior, or the senior wishing to be sexually active. Then it's no joke. It's your own life, your own relationship, or relationships, not some stereotype.
Why wouldn't you carry on embracing your sexuality as you get older, as long as you are able? Well, it's not like you're crazy. Sex didn't stop being good and satisfying just because you are now a senior.
So if you have the capacity and the desire, buck the prejudice out there and go for it. Or, keep on going for it.
Hopefully you never stopped. As long as you and your partner are happy, the rest of the world is irrelevant -- which is as it should be in a sexual encounter.
Enjoy yourselves to the hilt. There is new research from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University inTallahasee, by the way, which concurs that sex and happiness are definitely linked for older couples.
Of the individuals in the study, only 40 percent who hadn't had sex in the last year were "very happy". Among the individuals who were having sex more than once a month, 60 percent claimed to be "very happy".
Of couples who had no sex in the last year, only 59 percent said they were happy in their marriages. But 80 percent of those who had regular sex said they were happy. Sex was defined as vaginal, oral and anal sex.
A survey in a 2007 New England Journal of Medicine indicated that while older people might have sex less often, more than 50 percent of people in their late 70s and early 80s were still having sex two or three times a month.
Some of them were more active than that. And in that age group, almost one quarter said they are having sex once a week or more.
Health benefits accompany the emotional benefits. Sex can enhance your circulation and even send out more endorphins that elevate mood and reduce pain.
No, it's not the same as when you were in your 20s. And no, the body isn't what it used to be way back when. But hopefully, neither are your youthful insecurities and inexperience.
You may also be more tolerant of yourself and your partner, with less concern about whether you have (or don't have) a perfect physique, and a more realistic view of what is of value.
Go ahead. Make each other happy.
Sources:
Sexual Seniors Are Happiest, Survey Finds. Livescience.com. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
http://www.livescience.com/17103-sex-happiness-seniors.html
Better Senior Sex. Helpguide.org. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
http://www.helpguide.org/elder/sexuality_aging.htm
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