Bryson Norman

Unit 4 Essay 2

Question

OPTION C: HEALTH AND ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Do you know anyone who experiences chronic health problems? How have (or how might) those
problems affect romantic relations and sexuality? What would you recommend for others with similar
health problems?

Answer

Chronic health problems do make relationships hard. When people have health problems it puts
stress on the relationship. When one person has to care for their other and make sure they are healthy
it puts stress on them and that carries over to the relationship. When people have this stress on the
relationship it makes the them fight and the relationship fall apart.

I just got out of a relationship with a guy that had mental health problems. This played into our
relationship majorly. We would constantly fight, and it made us not happy. This would be because he
would shut down and not express his feelings to me.

Another reason not being healthy is putting a damper on relationships is activity. If you have a
partner that isn’t healthy then you guys probably aren’t doing the things you used to. If your spouse
doesn’t like to go out and do things because of not being healthy. that’s making the other person
miserable as well and this could cause problems in the relationship.

I have an uncle that is overweight, and it makes my aunt miserable. He is ornery most the time.
This makes it so it’s hard for him to get out and do things with my aunt. This upset my aunt because she
doesn’t have anyone to go out and do the things they used to do. This frustrates my aunt because she is
the only one that works, and he just sits at home and doesn’t try to do anything about his weight. She
tells her family how mad he makes her. All this could be resolved if he tried to lose weight and put
himself out there to get help.

I also have a dad that has diabetes and watching him have to care for himself is hard. He needs
his spouses to help take care of him. This hurts the relationship due to the stress as well and makes him
and his relationships hard to watch because they turn to be angry with each other from the stress. I
have also heard them talk about not having a very good sex life and this could be due to my dad’s
diabetes. “In a study of the sexuality of 80 men and 80 women who had type 2 diabetes, 65% of the men
reported male sexual dysfunction (erectile dysfunction), and 68% of the women reported female sexual
dysfunction, such as lack of sexual desire and orgasmic dysfunction. Psychogenic factors were more
operative in women than men (Hintistan & Cilingir, 2013). In another study of patients with type 2
diabetes (70 women/30 men), more than half (53%) reported that the diabetes had affected their sex
life adversely.” (Knox & Milstein, 2017, p.271).

What I would say about people that have chronic health conditions makes it hard to have sex in
relationships. If your physically unhealthy that makes people turned off from you. If you are unhealthy
and, in a relationship, I would say that stress is making it, so your spouse doesn’t want to have sex.
 Bryson Norman
Unit 4 Essay 2

When your spouse is under stress and being a caretaker, they are not wanting to have sex and that can
affect the relationship as well. “Since sexuality is vital in regard to your self-image and the quality of
your interpersonal relationships, the onset of an illness begins a major challenge for the individual and
couple. The disabled struggle with how their disability will impact their sexual behavior.” (Knox &
Milstein, 2017, p.266).

I would recommend that people should just maintain their health. Don’t let your body become
something that you don’t want it to be so maintain your health while you can. If your young be active
and exercise so you don’t become obese. Take advantage of your health while you can and it’s easy to
do. I would stay on top of your health so you can succeed in a healthy relationship and not hurt other
people around you by being unhealthy.

Reference

Knox, D., & Milstein, S. (2017). Human sexuality: Making informed decisions (5th ed.) [with Salt Lake
Community College supplement]. Redding, CA: BVT Publishing.