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" Sex and alcohol are not a good mixture. To be more accurate, small amounts of alcohol will do no harm to you sexually. But surprisingly moderate amounts of drink can really foul up your sex life.\u00A0 In addition, alcohol is really dangerous when you are trying to conceive a baby, and also in early pregnancy. In 2015, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists issued a chilling report about the risk that drink may give babies &amp;#039;Foetal Alcohol Syndrome&amp;#039; and also &amp;#039;Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.&amp;#039; The College strongly advised that woman should NOT drink at all when trying to conceive, and indeed during the first three months of pregnancy.   Alcohol can cause sexual problems in both men and women. Also, it can make them behave differently, so that they have sex with totally unsuitable people. It can make them take daft risks, so that they catch sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or start an unwanted pregnancy.  And it can make them more likely to be the victims of sexual attack \u2013 whether they&amp;#039;re men or women.  In 2014, an Ipsos-MORI survey of young people, carried out for the Family Planning Association, found that:   Alcohol was a major factor in inducing men and women to have sex without a condom 70 per cent of people who regretted having a sexual episode said that alcohol had been a factor Almost one in 10 young people said that they&amp;#039;d got so drunk that they couldn&amp;#039;t even remember whether they had sex \u2013 or what sort of sex it was 28 per cent of young adults said that they&amp;#039;d had sex with someone they wouldn&amp;#039;t normally fancy \u2013 and in most cases they blamed alcohol.  That last point is very important, because it draws attention to the recently-discovered phenomenon of &amp;#039;beer goggles&amp;#039;. This term describes the distortion of vision and perception that occurs when you&amp;#039;ve had a bit too much to drink.  You can&amp;#039;t really see straight, and you&amp;#039;re liable to think that the man or woman sitting next to you in the pub is really quite attractive \u2013 and that it would be perfectly OK to hop into bed with them. Next morning, everything may look very different. Alcohol affects people&amp;#039;s sex lives in many ways. We can divide its effects into &amp;#039;good&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;bad&amp;#039;.   Good effects of alcohol Small amounts of alcohol oil the social wheels and reduce shyness \u2013 thereby making it easier for people to meet up. It also helps a lot of men and women to relax and chat easily with each other.  Similarly, a little wine or a cocktail will often make a person feel romantic \u2013 or perhaps less &amp;#039;uptight&amp;#039; about sex. Also, a very small &amp;#039;dose&amp;#039; of alcohol can extend the time that a nervous young man takes before he climaxes \u2013 thus combating any slight tendency to come too soon or experience mild premature ejaculation (PE). However, alcohol is definitely not a treatment for this condition.   Bad effects of alcohol Unfortunately, the list of &amp;#039;bad&amp;#039; effects of alcohol is much longer!   Alcohol makes people far more likely to have unwise sex with the wrong person \u2013 and therefore to get pregnant, to catch infections, and to embark on affairs that cause marriage break-ups. In fact, booze is the main reason why in 2015, there is a massive demand for the so-called &amp;#039;morning-after pill&amp;#039; (the emergency contraceptive) on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings. Alcohol makes people fuddled, so that they don&amp;#039;t take proper contraceptive precautions. Alcohol is bad for the unborn baby, and can cause severe brain damage. So it should only be taken very sparingly in pregnancy \u2013 and not at all during the first three months. And it is best avoided around the time of conception. Alcohol is a major cause of impotence (erectile dysfunction). A lot of younger males don&amp;#039;t realise this because they think that booze boosts &amp;#039;horniness&amp;#039;. But as Shakespeare says in the Scottish play: &amp;#039;It increases the desire, but it takes away the performance.&amp;#039; A lot of men who are hooked on alcohol develop permanent &amp;#039;Brewer&amp;#039;s droop&amp;#039; \u2013 and often loss of interest in sex as well. We do not yet know if excessive alcohol use can cause female sexual problems, but on the basis of probabilities it does seem likely that some cases of diminished libido are due to excessive alcohol consumption.  If you have problems with excessive alcohol use or think you may be suffering from alcoholism, we suggest you contact an alcohol counsellor, and consider joining Alcoholics Anonymous.  Other people also read: Sex and neurological disorders: what is a neurological disorder?  Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): what sort of diseases are we talking about?  Female sexual arousal disorder: all in the mind? Last updated 20.12.2015 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/conditions/sexual-health/a2236/sex-and-alcohol/>