A woman has revealed how her doctor ‘prescribed’ her orgasms to treat her depression<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Penny Sullivan \u2013 not her real name \u2013 had pulled her own hair out as a youngster, and suffered anorexia and bulimia.<\/p>\n
After struggling with low moods, anxiety and anger for decades she was finally diagnosed with bipolar II disorder.<\/p>\n
Then her doctor prescribed her medication, suggested she give up alcohol<\/a> and get more exercise \u2013 all standard advice.<\/p>\n
But he also prescribed sex \u2013 and ‘as much of it as she could handle’. According to Australian website\u00a0whimn.com.au<\/a>,\u00a0Penny had a naturally high sex drive so ‘that was a lot’.<\/p>\n
The mother-of-three followed doctor’s orders and was amazed to discover that regular intimacy with her husband helped stabilise her moods.<\/p>\n
Orgasms release feel-good hormones and semen contains mild anti-depressant compounds, according to experts.<\/p>\n
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![\"A](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/12\/13\/11\/4749418700000578-0-image-a-20_1513163006716.jpg\")
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A woman diagnosed with\u00a0bipolar II disorder has revealed how her doctor ‘prescribed’ her orgasms (stock image)<\/p>\n
Want to lose weight? Focus on your sleep: Survey reveals…<\/span> ‘Heat-not-burn’ tobacco is still a health risk even if…<\/span> Cannabis could prevent mental decline in up to 50% of HIV…<\/span> Elderly woman who had a mole on her face removed now has a…<\/span> The Swansea native has spoken out about her mental health struggles<\/p>\n Catherine Zeta-Jones is one of the high profile celebrities whose struggles with bipolar has been well documented.<\/p>\n The 48-year-old went into rehab in 2013 after voluntarily checking herself in to get treatment after a turbulent time following her husband Michael Douglas being diagnosed with tongue cancer.<\/p>\n ‘Bipolar is something I have been dealing with for a long time,’ she said, speaking with the Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine.<\/p>\n The Welsh star of Cabaret and Red 2 says when she got ‘sideswept ‘ by Douglas’ illness it was a trigger for her balance to go a bit off.<\/p>\n ‘Not sleeping, worry, stress’ are just some of the symptoms she recalls suffering.\u00a0<\/p>\n In an interview with Metro in 2013, Douglas reflected on his wife’s troubling disorder.<\/p>\n ‘Sometimes you don’t think you need any meds at all, and you forget your meds. Then all of a sudden, you get on a real ride.’\u00a0<\/p>\n \n ‘We don’t always have to have intercourse either, simply touching, cuddling or just fooling around and being connected can be just as great to get those feel goods,’ she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a condition that affects your moods, which can swing from one extreme to another.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sufferers have periods or depression when they may feel very low and lethargic then episodes of mania \u2013 feeling very high and overactive.<\/p>\n \n \n \n Can sex ‘cure’ depression?<\/span><\/p>\n Studies have consistently linked regular sexual activity to improved emotional well-being.<\/p>\n It has been found to releases a range of hormones that enable us to relax, helping to lower our levels of the so-called ‘stress hormone’ cortisol, according to sexologist Isiah McKimmie from Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n ‘Sex elevates our mood through the release of hormones and endorphins it causes in our brain,’ she told\u00a0whimn.com.<\/p>\n ‘It increases oxytocin (a love and bonding hormone,) serotonin (a happiness hormone) and dopamine levels. These help us experience feelings of love, connection and happiness.<\/p>\n ‘Additionally, semen contains mild anti-depressant compounds. Women who have unprotected sex with their partners have been shown to have elevated moods compared to women who always or mostly use condoms.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Physically, regular sex life has been shown in studies to lower blood pressure and reduce our risk of heart attack.<\/p>\n A 2010 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology revealed that frequent love making had a protective effect on the male heart.<\/p>\n Men who slept with their partner at least twice a week were up to 45 per cent less likely to suffer from the condition.<\/p>\n ‘Sex elevates our mood through the release of hormones and endorphins it causes in our brain,’ said\u00a0sexologist Isiah McKimmie<\/p>\n Unfortunately,\u00a0sexual dysfunction is a known side-effect of\u00a0serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressants, which include Prozac, Seroxat, Cipramil and Lustral.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n Symptoms can include erectile dysfunction, inability to orgasm in women and genital numbness.<\/p>\n Around five million people in the UK take SSRIs, and 58 per cent of them could be experiencing these kinds of sexual side-effects, according to one authoritative study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in 2001.<\/p>\n If you want to talk to someone confidentially, call the Samaritans, free of charge, on 116 123. You can talk to them 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Alternatively, visit the Samaritans website or email jo@samaritans.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bipolar I<\/p>\n You may be told you have bipolar I if you have experienced:<\/p>\n You might also have experienced depressive episodes, although not everyone does.<\/p>\n Bipolar II<\/p>\n You may be told you have bipolar II if you have experienced both:<\/p>\n Cyclothymia<\/p>\n You may be told you have cyclothymia if:<\/p>\n This can be a difficult diagnosis to receive, because you may feel that you are being told your symptoms are ‘not serious enough’. But in fact cyclothymia can have a serious impact on your life.<\/p>\n Source: Mind\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A woman has revealed how her doctor ‘prescribed’ her orgasms to treat her depression. Penny Sullivan \u2013 not her real name \u2013 had pulled her own hair out as a youngster, and suffered anorexia and bulimia. After struggling with low moods, anxiety and anger for decades she was finally diagnosed with bipolar II disorder. Then Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nCATHERINE ZETA-JONES ON HER BIPOLAR\u00a0<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nDIFFERENT TYPES OF BIPOLAR\u00a0<\/h3>\n
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