Masturbating to Deal With Dating Stress

The Story It’s a pretty common experience to feel anxiety before a date — aka first-date jitters. But how stressful is dating overall? That’s what dating app Flirtini wanted to know when it ran a survey recently to ask 2,000 people how cool, calm and collected they are when seeking connection. RELATED: Best Ideas to Help Guarantee a Great First Date The Snapshot One finding from the study is that there’s a non-trivial gender breakdown when it comes to experiencing dating stress. RELATED: What She's Thinking Before Your Date Nearly 3 in 5 women (58%) said they experienced dating stress either daily or often, compared to just about 1 in 3 men (35%). That gap in stress levels has consequences — about 2 in 3 women have canceled a date to due anxiety, whereas for men it’s just 1 in 4. Then there’s this stat — 46% of men seek sexual release to calm themselves before a date, likely via masturbation. The Lesson Jerking off before a date is hardly a new concept. Using the reality of your refractory period to help ensure that you are less likely to prematurely ejaculate is something that guys have likely been engaging in for as long as the concept of dating as existed. But modern understandings of the health benefits of masturbation can help us unlock a new reason to engage in some self pleasure before an evening out. That’s because the brain chemicals released during an orgasm will help decrease your stress levels, helping you to be more calm and centred as you head out for your night — or day — on the town. RELATED: Brain Chemicals That Fuel Your Sex Life Other than that, a big takeaway from this study is that women feel more dating stress than men. So if you’re one of the many men who date women, that’s not a bad thing to keep in mind as you navigate the dating world. You Might Also Dig: What to Wear on a First DateThings You Shouldn't Say on a First Date Worst First Date Situations