Playboy founder, Hugh Hefner, once referred to Viagra as, “The greatest recreational drug on the planet…and it’s perfectly legal!”
For years, millions of men have taken medications such as Viagra and Cialis to boost their drive and performance in the bedroom. Men have taken these medications with varied motives. Some, like Hugh Hefner, want to indiscriminately pursue multiple encounters of casual sex.
Other men, however, want to maximize the sexual intimacy and satisfaction within marriage, and they see the medication as a way to help achieve it.
Up until recently, the prescription options for sexual stimulation were geared only to men, but now, there are new options for women on the horizon. A recent report by ABC News shared research that the same Viagra currently prescribed exclusively for men can also work to boost the female libido and a brand new drug (which is not Viagra, but it still often referred to as the “Female Viagra”) is under review by the FDA.
This has created a great deal of debate as to what role (if any) these types of drugs should have in a healthy marriage. I’m not a doctor, but I’ve worked closely with married couples from all over the world, and before getting a prescription filled, I’d encourage you to consider the following principles:
1) There’s no “magic pill” to fix a marriage. (Tweet This!)
These drugs may very well enhance your sexual experience, but anytime we look to a pill to fix deeper issues within a marriage, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. There’s no pill to fix broken trust, hurt feelings, a lack of communication and the other major factors that can impact a couple’s relationship inside and outside of the bedroom. You have to do the work of repairing those issues before your sex life (or your marriage) will be all it can be.
2) There are potential side effects.
These new drugs still have unknown side effects which could potentially counter the positive benefits of the drug. If the sexual experience is improved at the expense of creating hormonal imbalance or other negative impacts, then you are just trading one problem for another. With this, or any drug, consider all the pros and cons. If the pill is going to make you grow a beard or suffer from violent mood swings, it probably isn’t worth the temporary boost in libido.
3) It might actually help.
The point of this post isn’t to try to talk you out of taking a pill that might actually help your marriage. I’d encourage you to use every resource at your disposal that could help you and your spouse connect on every level. Investing in your sex life is certainly a worthwhile investment for married couples. (Tweet This!) Just do the research and weigh the pros and cons before taking “Female Viagra” or any other drug.
For more ways to enhance your sex life with your spouse (without any pills required) check out our video series workshop “Best Sex Life Now.”