Researcher: Sex Without Condoms = Better Mental Health

According to a researcher, in this age of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, intercourse without a condom, while potentially disastrous for the body, is good for the psyche.

The claim comes from Dr. Stuart Brody, who says that he is not motivated by politics, but rather that "evolutionarily relevant sex" is, as a matter of science, more gratifying to the individuals who practice it.

By that, Brody seems to mean sex that might lead to conception--hence, no condom.

But before gays embrace the researcher's claims as a rationale for barebacking or other risky sexual conduct, there's something else they should know: Brody claimed in 2007 that heterosexual sex is satisfying in ways that gay sex is not.

Brody's claim was reported on in the Aug. 4 edition of the UK newspaper The Telegraph, which reported that Brody, who formerly taught in Tubingen, Germany, is now a professor at the University of the West of Scotland, which is located in the city of Paisley.

Brody's study relied on the accounts of over one hundred men and nearly one hundred women who answered queries regarding their sexual practices and their mental outlooks.

The men, the article said, were Portuguese.

Brody's study indicated that individuals who used condoms were more subject to emotional immaturity and depression and more prone to suicide.

The results were the same for those in relationships as for those who were single.

The article quoted from a letter Brody sent to the Archives of Sexual Behavior, a professional journal.

Wrote the professor, "The more often [people] have sex without condoms, the better their mental health.

Possible explanations for the interference of condoms with the health benefits of penile-vaginal intercourse include the blocking of antidepressant and immunological agents in semen and genital secretions [and] reduced sexual satisfaction and intimacy."

The article noted that Brody insisted to another UK newspaper, The Independent, that his work was free of political bias.

"I don't want to let anything get in the way, whether it's political correctness, or religion," Brody was quoted as saying.

"Evolution is not politically correct, so of the very broad range of potential sexual behavior, there is actually only one that is consistently associated with better physical and mental health and that is the one sexual behavior that would be favored by evolution.

"That is not accident," added Brody.

How condom use and evolution interact is unclear, given that evolution tends to operate across long periods of time, whereas condoms are a fairly recent invention.

In any case, the physical benefits of condom use are still relevant and not liable to easy dismissal, noted the article, citing the role that condoms play both in the prevention of sexually transmitted disease, including AIDS, as well as in family planning.

The article related that in 2007, Brody made the claim that sex between members of opposing genders was beneficial for "psychological and physiological function" but that same-sex intimacy was not.

This claim contradicted an earlier study by Masters and Johnson that showed that, for gays, same-sex contact was just as satisfying as sex involving mixed genders was for straights.

The claim was denounced by UK gay equality activist Peter Tatchell, who called Brody's report "unscientific and extreme" and noted of the Masters and Johnson investigation, "Their study found that levels of physical and emotional satisfaction during and after sex were almost identical for both heterosexual and homosexual couples."

Brody is also the author of a book titled "Sex at Risk," which examines the risk of HIV transmission through vaginal intercourse and addresses other issues of sexuality such as masturbation v. intercourse and a purported link between the number of sex partners an individual has and mental health.

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