Professor Claims Unprotected Sex Is Good For You

According to research conducted by a leading Scottish psychologist, having sex without a condom is good for your mental health.

Professor Stuart Brody says that unprotected sex can significantly boost men and women's mental well-being.

Conversely, Brody claims that heterosexual sex with a condom is associated with poorer mental health, problems dealing with stress and even conditions such as depression.

The claims are being criticised by sexual health campaigners, who warned that unsafe sex leads to unwanted pregnancies and diseases.

However, Brody, of the West of Scotland University, maintains that mankind is biologically programmed to enjoy unprotected sex because it gives couples an evolutionary advantage and maximizes the chances of reproducing.

His conclusions, which are to be published in the academic journal Archives of Sexual Behaviour, are angering groups which promote the safe sex message.

"Evolution is not politically correct," says Brody. "So of the very broad range of potential sexual behaviour, there is actually only one that is consistently associated with better physical and mental health and that is the one sexual behaviour that would be favoured by evolution. That is not accidental."

Brody says his conclusions are based on a study of the sexual behaviour of 99 women and 111 men in Portugal. They filled in questionnaires about the pleasure they derived from their sex lives and contraception use.

Using a measure of psychological health, Brody concluded that condom use was associated with members of the sample who exhibited problems dealing with stress.

He says those that had unprotected sex appeared to be "able to deal with stress in a more mature way by taking effective action."

"The more often people are using condoms independent of age, independent of the nature of their relationship, the greater use of immature defence mechanisms against stress. In contrast, the more often they have sex without condoms, the better their mental health and the more mature their mechanisms," he says.

Tony Kerridge of Marie Stopes International, a leading sexual health and reproductive health organisation, says the findings have no merit: "I would have thought that the mental health of anyone would be tested if they found out they had a sexually transmitted disease or that there was an unwanted pregnancy."

"Particularly in the case of casual relationships where there is no desire to get pregnant, advice should always be that condoms should be used."

"It really is a no-brainer as far as we are concerned."

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