Chemsex: living your sexuality in a healthy, conscious way

Chemsex is a practice that combines the use of certain drugs with sexual activity, usually to heighten sensations, make encounters last longer or lower inhibitions. It's a real phenomenon, and more common than people tend to admit. Approaching it from a place of judgment doesn't help anyone; approaching it with good information and self-awareness does.

Why it helps to look at it without taboos

Sexuality is a legitimate part of life, and exploring and enjoying it is healthy. The problem isn't desire itself, but how we relate to certain practices: whether we approach them from a place of freedom and awareness, or to avoid something we find hard to hold without substances. Denying or hiding the subject only makes it harder to ask for help when you need it.

Psychological risks worth keeping in mind

• ✓ Difficulty enjoying sex or intimacy without substances.
• ✓ Anxiety, low mood or guilt appearing or growing after encounters.
• ✓ Using the practice to cover up loneliness, emptiness or emotional pain.
• ✓ Losing control over how often or in what situations it happens.
• ✓ An impact on your self-esteem, your relationships or your everyday life.

The key: noticing how you feel

The aim isn't to point fingers or forbid anything, but to help you notice how you feel in these situations: before, during and after. Are you choosing it out of desire, or out of a need to escape? How do you feel the next day? That honest observation is what allows you to live your sexuality in a healthy, adaptive way, and to spot in time if something is starting to become a problem.

How therapy can help

In individual therapy we work without judgment: we explore what role the practice plays in your life, what emotions lie underneath and how to recover a sense of control and enjoyment. When there are painful experiences or trauma behind it, EMDR therapy helps you process those memories so they stop pushing you toward behaviours that aren't good for you. Asking for help isn't a failure: it's looking after yourself.