Understanding the Risks of Having Sex Too Soon
It Blinds You From Real Issues
Engaging in sex too early can sway your judgment and keep you from truly getting to know someone. You start making decisions based on wanting to have sex with them rather than trying to get to know them. So, if you see red flags, you're more likely to ignore them because you don't want to stop having sex.
It Sends the Wrong Message
The last thing you want to do is make someone think that you're hypersexual when you're not. If you're single and have sex too soon, whether you're a man or woman, it can send the message that you easily have sex with other people and are "easy". This causes people to create the wrong perception of you and can start the relationship in the wrong direction.
You Might Not Enjoy It
You may find yourself less engaged in bed than you would be if you had allowed yourself to become emotionally attached to the person. Oftentimes, building emotion before having sex makes the act much more meaningful. It's also important to really know the person you have sex with because it's bigger than just the act itself. You don't know what you could be getting yourself into by participating in this act without knowing their history, background, values, characteristics, etc. All of these factors can affect the quality of sex.
You Start Thinking That Sex Equals Feelings
You see this a lot, especially on television, where women have sex and they think that because they've had sex, this means the man must really love them or care about them. Sometimes, for the man, it's just sex and nothing else. This can also be the other way around, especially nowadays, but it's more often that men are only looking for a release rather than a relationship.
You May Feel Emotionally Damaged
After you've had sex with a person and it doesn't work out the way you thought it would, you may feel emotionally damaged – especially if you thought there was an emotional connection. This can pave the way for all other sexual encounters and create issues in future relationships.
It Makes Communication More Difficult
Before sex, you could freely discuss things without worry. After sex, you might wonder, "if I discuss this with her now, she might get mad and not want to have sex with me. So, I won't talk about this." Or, you might be inclined to use sex as a solution to issues so the other person will forget about why they were mad. You need to be mindful that sex won't help your communication problems. It's important to take sex out of the situation and address your issues.
It Leads to Issues If You Don't Want to Do It Again
Let's say that you have sex once but then decide that, for whatever reason, you're not interested in doing it again. You may want to continue dating the person, but you want to hold off on sex until a later time. This opens up the situation where the person thinks that something is wrong because you've both already had sex. You'll have set a precedent that you can't keep, and now you both might struggle with a sexual tension that wouldn't have been there if you hadn't engaged in the act so soon.
Risk of STDS and Pregnancy
These are lifelong consequences. Once you have a child with someone, you'll have a permanent physical connection to them. It's crucial to be serious about this fact when deciding to have sex with someone, especially if it's unprotected, and especially if you don't know whether they're capable of being a parent. If you get an STD and it's one that you can't get rid of, you'll have to deal with flare-ups, medications, and symptoms for the rest of your life. This will also severely impact your future sexual relationships and will likely cause potential partners to leave because of your STD. If you're a woman, this could also affect pregnancies and damage your baby if you choose to have one in the future.
