Summary of Nan Wise's Why Good Sex Matters

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 Our culture is gluttonous for pleasure, and sexually ravenous. But very few of us seem to be able to fully experience the sensations or satisfaction we seek. Why is this the case.
#2 Our senses have become overwhelmed by the abundance of easy-to-access, seemingly endless supply of quick-fix pleasures. But are we actually that turned on. The answer is no, and we are constantly being bombarded with advertisements for antidepressant and antianxiety medications to help us feel better.
#3 The most basic enjoyments of life seem to be out of reach for millions of people. It is as if one of our most natural and necessary drives has become stunted.
#4 Some of us have inherited a vulnerability to anhedonia, which can manifest as anxiety. In 1979, I experienced my first panic attack, which was the result of a perfect storm of a medical issue that imbalanced my hormones, a time of developmental stress, and a huge side order of trauma and loss.

Sujets

• Fitness
• Health
• Sexuality
• Sexualité
• sexualité
• Sexualité

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 11 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822505339
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Nan Wise's Why Good Sex Matters
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Our culture is gluttonous for pleasure, and sexually ravenous. But very few of us seem to be able to fully experience the sensations or satisfaction we seek. Why is this the case.

#2

Our senses have become overwhelmed by the abundance of easy-to-access, seemingly endless supply of quick-fix pleasures. But are we actually that turned on. The answer is no, and we are constantly being bombarded with advertisements for antidepressant and antianxiety medications to help us feel better.

#3

The most basic enjoyments of life seem to be out of reach for millions of people. It is as if one of our most natural and necessary drives has become stunted.

#4

Some of us have inherited a vulnerability to anhedonia, which can manifest as anxiety. In 1979, I experienced my first panic attack, which was the result of a perfect storm of a medical issue that imbalanced my hormones, a time of developmental stress, and a huge side order of trauma and loss.

#5

I had a panic attack, and I was diagnosed with first-year-medical-school syndrome. I was not a medical student, but I was working with seriously ill patients, and I was new to the job. I was doing what medical students often do: they start thinking they have the symptoms they’re studying.

#6

Anhedonia is the inability to feel a satisfactory amount of pleasure in many if not most aspects of what would be pleasurable in our lives. It is a result of a dysfunctional neural system that affects both the brain and the body.

#7

The brain-body is constantly in a state of balance and regulation because of our experience of stress. When our stress responses become maladaptive, a cascade of negative effects occurs, including anxiety, depression, energy depletion, sleep disruption, and vulnerability to illnesses.

#8

It can be difficult to get out of the anhedonia cycle, as it is a complex interplay between the brain and the body. But once you are aware of it, you can use your top brain’s capacities to consciously regulate your emotions and then reteach your midlevel new associations, behaviors, and habits.

#9

The distinction between hedonia and eudaimonia, which is made by Aristotle in The Nicomachean Ethics, is that eudaimonia is the result of a life’s purpose, while hedonia is the act of enjoyment and delight. But this distinction misses the important role that pleasures of mind and body play in our emotional lives.

#10

There are subjective and objective forms of pleasure in the brain. Primary pleasures are food, warmth, sex, safety. These are fundamental needs that we are hardwired to seek because they are about our survival. Higher-order pleasures pull on more of our brain areas because they are goal directed and meaningful to us.

#11

Our society has a difficult relationship with pleasure. While we are constantly preaching the importance of sexual conduct, many people are reporting sexual harassment and abuse that has long been in the shadows.

#12

Our ambivalence about pleasure is most evident in our conflict with sex. We are deeply into sex, but at the same time, deeply at odds with it. We judge our sexual longings, curtail our desires, and cut ourselves off from all that it affords us.

#13

The seeking system is designed to help us adapt and be resilient. But if we don’t know how to turn down the seeking and learn to like what we have, we are forever looking and never enjoying what we have.

#14

The brain basement is the core of emotions, and disruptions in this area can impact sex. For example, Linda was not interested in having sex with her husband, and she was angry with herself, her body, and her life in general.

#15

The core emotional issues fueling Linda’s anhedonia are fear, anger, and sadness. These are our defensive emotions that exist to signal threat and protect us from potential danger. But we also have core emotions that are just as potent, such as connection, lust, and care.

#16

We need to understand how we are driven by the powerful emotions that operate in the brain to truly reclaim pleasure in our lives, especially in our sex lives.

#17

The brain is also a generator of pleasure. It is not only the command center for sex, but also a generator of pleasure. The two functions are inextricably linked in both the brain and the body.