Sexual Health: More Than Just Bugs and Babies

From a scientific perspective, sexual health is if often discussed in the contexts of procreation and disease. However to focus on these aspects alone gives a false representation of sex and the role it has in our lives.

The question stands:
Bees do it, trees do it, we do it, but, why do it? 

The answer may seem to be obvious to some (pleasure) but a more detailed answer isn't clear.

Evolutionary speaking having sex for pleasure is quite a new phenomenon yet sexual reproduction itself is not. So why did were our single-celled ancestors having sex if there was no pleasure?

A commonly touted argument is that sexual reproduction allows natural selection to act leading to increased variation and more viable offspring. The full discussion of these assertions is beyond the scope of this post but is discussed well in this article in Nature Education. Interestingly, according to models, sexual reproduction actually decreases variation and leads to less viable offspring. So no luck getting an answer from evolutionary biologists.

What have the psychologists got to add?

A lot.

I'm scared to type 'psychology' and 'sex' into Google. I don't want to break the internet.

Instead of going down the psychological rabbit hole (where the only way out is to wake up and admit you're in love with your mother/have penis envy) I'll keep this discussion brief and talk about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (pictorially depicted to the right). I'm sure many of you are familiar with this model but I will describe it in brief anyway.

Maslow's Heirachy of Needs - Depicted as a triangle
with the more basic needs at the bottom.

Maslow was a psychologist who postulated the theory that certain needs that must be met for people to live, and live well. There are different types of needs, some more fundamental to life itself and some essential to a 'good' life.

The lower the level the needs are on the triangle the more fundamental they are to life. For instance for the person who cannot breathe or eat (physical/phsyiological needs) having a sense of self-esteem (esteem need) is inconsequential. It is only when all needs in each category are met that people ascend the pyramid to self actualisation. (live their life to it's full potential).

Ok. So let's have a look at the physiological needs.
Sex is there.
As essential to life as eating, drinking and breathing.

Whilst this contention may not hold too much weight in biological circles its inclusion highlights the importance that sex has for all of us. A lot of behaviour can be drawn back to sex either doing it or trying to do it.

So the psychologists tell us we have sex because it is a natural as inhaling and exhaling, but (as the 4 year old product of our nature may ask) why?

Is it purely for the pleasure of orgasm? the pleasure of the experience? Because it brings us closer to others? Because it makes little versions of us? Because there was nothing good on T.V that night?

Who knows.

The fact of the matter is we do it. Sexual health is much more than just the absence of something (disease or foetus). Sex is part of what makes us who we are and thus a well taken sexual history should be a part of the holistic doctors practice.