Sex calms nerves before public speaking - study 

Sex calms nerves before public speaking

Forget pretending you are talking to one person or concentrating on a single point in the audience -- having sex is good way to calm nerves before giving a speech or presentation.

But Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley in Scotland, said it has to be full sexual intercourse to get the best results.

He studied nearly 50 men and women who recorded their sexual activities for two weeks and analysed its impact on their blood pressure levels when under acute stress, such as when giving a speech.

Brody discovered that the volunteers who had sexual intercourse were the least stressed and had blood pressure levels that returned to normal more quickly than people who engaged in other types of sex.

But people who had abstained from sex had the highest blood pressure response to stress.

Even after taking into account stress due to work or other factors, the range of responses to stress were best explained by sexual behaviour.

"The effects are not attributable simply to the short-term relief afforded by orgasm but rather, endure for at least a week," Brody told New Scientist magazine.

He believes that the release of the so-called "pair bonding" hormone oxytocin might explain the calming effect.

不要作出一副你要对某人讲话或是专注于观众中某一点的样子，在演讲或演出之前，做爱可以有效缓解紧张情绪。

但苏格兰佩斯利大学心理学教授斯图尔特·布罗迪认为，完整的性交过程得到的效果最佳。

他研究了将近50名男性和女性在处于强压时，性行为对他们的血压的影响。这些人记录了自己在两周内的性行为。，

布罗迪发现，与其它性爱方式相比，有性交经历的志愿者压力最小，血压能更快恢复正常。

而无性爱经历的人，在遇到压力时的血压最高。

即使对因工作或其他因素导致的压力，性行为也能很大程度地缓解。

布罗迪对《新科学家杂志》说："这不能简单的归结为是性高潮带来的短暂效果，这种效应能够持续一周。

他认为所谓的配偶融合荷尔蒙催产素的释放或许能够解释这种缓解效应。