As far as I know there are the following well-known medical systems in the world. Each of the system is whole, unique and aims at cure of all diseases and overall well-being.
Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Yoga, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Allopathy etc. All these medical systems in their own unique way tell what to eat, how to breathe, drink and sleep; what is good and what is harmful for body, staying happy, staying free of stress and medication. I request every reader to look closely… each of these medical systems largely touch on the external, – eating, exercise, breathing, sleeping, drinking and consumption of medication. I agree with each of them, completely.
What is surprising is and of which I have so far neither heard nor read, is ‘Sex as Medicine’. Sex is a great magical external and internal medicine. Humans have limited its utility to entertainment and progeny only. Its purpose is more than that. Humans have not realized the potential of sex beyond that limited view. I have asked many a medical practitioner about prescribing ‘Sex as Medicine’ for certain afflictions. I asked why they do not prescribe it as medicine. Is it the case that they under estimate the value of it as medicine or they have never thought of it or the medical texts do not talk of ‘Sex as Medicine ‘or all? As far as I know, it is astonishing that none of their medical texts refer to it as medicine. I feel that over the years, these medical systems simply went on discovering more diseases. Health is not providing medicines. Health is absence of any disease! Health is an undiluted bliss and Joy.
Saying health is absence of deceases is incomplete. Man can never ever have a holistic definition of health. How can mere absence of decease be health? No sir! A simple absence of diseases cannot be health. Further, health is health and there is no such thing as ‘good health’. Health must be much more. Health is the presence of Joy, unlimited happiness and bliss.
Sex is one such medicine that will make happiness, joy, bliss possible. It can make it possible all at once. It regulates blood pressure, makes every cell in human body active and working. Prescription medicines may make few cells active and may support their activity to some extent, but sex is the very activity of cells. Look at that unicellular organism Ameba – it is its sexual activity that makes it eternal.
Sex is only projected on temple walls in our country. And I still cannot understand why it is done so! Temples are places of worship. In our society any discussion about sex is a taboo. Virginity cannot be lost before marriage. Pre-marital sex is often met with ex-communication or death or both. Why talk so much? Even talk of sex between husband & wife is a banned affair. How can sex be prescribed as medicine in a country where buying a condom is an abnormal affair? Are you day dreaming?
To add salt to the wound, Brahmacharya/celibacy is prescribed by religion. ‘Be celibate’ is the religious dictum. The belief is ‘Staying celibate makes a man strong’. The religion and the society cannot view sex as a biologically necessary activity with profound health and emotional benefits. Pray how can this be prescribed as medicine? ‘Sex as Medicine’ does not mean sex has a cure for every problem. “Paracetamol’ cannot be a cure of all diseases. Nor does the phrase ‘Sex as Medicine’ indicate that one should have sex
every day! A sleeping pill when used as per the doctor’s prescription becomes a medicine; without it makes the users into drug-addicts resulting, very often, fatal results.
We are not stating here that ‘Sex as Medicine’ is never tried earlier. It may or could have been tried by few medical professionals in their own way. Probably due to the social taboo associated with the term, they may not have come out openly. I find it difficult to think whether it will be accepted today as medicine given the religious and social limitations. The society is not as modern as it projects itself. The way the doctors of 18th century paid to the ‘Grave diggers’ to get a body, today to think of ‘Sex as Medicine’ needs more courage than the 18th century medical professionals.
It was impossible to accept concepts like the organ donation, replacement, blood transfusion etc. few decades ago. But these are accepted as normal these days. They are a part of our life. Now it is time to think ‘Sex as Medicine’. Acceptance will be good for human health and longevity. It is time to rise above pre/post marital sex.
The way there is a specialist barber, washer man, nurse, radiologist, similarly we should have a profession of sex therapists. We have massage parlors everywhere – in streets, railway stations and airports. We have online doctors and pharmacies. The very face of medicine has meta morphed. We should accept the idea of sex-therapists with open mind – probably educated and licensed in the field of sex-therapy. Doctor’s prescription is essential for obtaining this therapy, the way a doctor’s prescription is compulsory to obtain certain medicines.
You may wonder and ask – what is the difference then, between sex therapy & prostitution? I in turn ask – what is the difference between a quack and a doctor? A similar difference exists between ‘Sex as Medicine’ practitioners & prostitutes. What is the difference between drugs as medicines and drugs as addiction? The line is very thin. It depends on us.
About the Author
Dr. K. Raja Gopal Reddy is a seasoned internationally qualified Insurance professional.
What you are reading here, may not answer all the questions we have, but has the absolute power of asking unsettling questions which increase the interest in the strange world, and show the contradictory wonders lying just below the surface of the commonest things of life. Look at this disturbing but beautiful thought of Friedrich Nietzsche “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him”.
Dr. Reddy can be reached at: raja66gopal@gmail.com
