friendship
C.S Lewis got it right: friendship is born when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"
Low Testosterone and Sex Drive: Symptoms, NHS Guidelines, Benefits and Risks of TRT
Back in the ’90s, Alan Reeves was on stage all the time—he was one of “The Dreamboys,” taking his clothes off in front of massive crowds. People loved him so much that he and his fellow dancers even landed a spot in the Spice Girls’ movie, Spice World. He was just 24 then, pretty full of himself and, honestly, he says he was “attractive.” But his thirties hit, and everything flipped. His mood dropped and his interest in sex just faded. “I just didn’t feel right,” he says. Now Reeves is 52, and he admits his low sex drive messed with his long-term relationship. “We’d go three or four months without sex. I just wasn’t interested. Stuff like that can really pull a couple apart.” And it’s not just men. More women are turning to testosterone, too. Rachel Mason, who’s 37 and blogs about menopause, says taking the hormone has done “amazing” things for her—she’s got more energy, can focus again, and her sex drive is back. Testosterone prescriptions are soaring. According to data from the Care Quality Commission and NHS Business Services Authority, they’ve jumped 135% from 2021 to 2024. All this is happening while, across the UK, people seem less interested in sex. The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles checks in with around 10,000 people every ten years, and it’s been showing a steady drop in sexual activity. More numbers are coming later this year, but here’s the trend: in the ’90s, people aged 16 to 44 said they had sex about five times a month. That dropped to four times in the 2000s, then three times in the 2010s. The next round of results is due at the end of the year, and researchers expect the decline to keep going. No one’s found one clear reason. So, does boosting testosterone really bring back your sex drive, or is it just clever marketing? Losing Interest in Sex Alan Reeves isn’t alone. More and more people are feeling the same way, and researchers are taking notice. Suze Clifton, academic director at Natsal, says, “Over the years, we’ve seen a drop across every group. For example, there are fewer couples living together now than in the ’90s, which could explain some of it. But even when we look just at couples who still live together, desire is down.” The biggest drop shows up in older couples, especially those who are married or living together. Clifton says figuring out exactly why people want sex less these days is tough. “We don’t really know why the whole population is having less sex,” she says. Researchers keep trying to get to the bottom of it. Some point to the digital world—it just eats up everyone’s attention, leaving no room for much else. Dr. Ben Davis, a sex therapist, adds that stress is a huge factor. It’s spiked over the last 30 years. “There’s just a lot in people’s lives right now. Sure, there’s technology, but there’s also more stress, more depression, more loneliness. All of that kills desire.” There’s another theory that’s blowing up online—and it’s turned into big business: the idea that low testosterone is to blame. Professor Geoffrey Hackett, who’s with the British Society for Sexual Medicine and works as a consultant urologist, says, “Testosterone levels in men are definitely dropping. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and being less active all lower testosterone. And when testosterone drops, so does desire.” Big studies over the last twenty years back this up—testosterone in men is going down. But Hackett says it’s not that simple. Low testosterone can affect sex drive, but not everyone with low levels feels less desire. Even so, ads are everywhere now—on the Tube, at bus stops, all over social media: Low sex drive? Brain fog? Tired all the time? Check your testosterone! Has your man lost his spark? Maybe it’s his hormones! So, is testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) really a fix for low libido? Testosterone Turned Things Around for Me Melissa Green started taking testosterone about a year ago. She says it didn’t just bring back her “spark for life,” it saved her marriage. At 43, her low sex drive was causing problems in her relationship. She was already on estrogen and progesterone for perimenopause—her doctor prescribed those as part of hormone replacement therapy. But when she asked about testosterone, her doctor said she didn’t need it and wouldn’t even check her levels. The NHS sticks to guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which says testosterone should only be considered for women who have already tried…
By Real content8 months ago in Humans
Libra Woman & Libra Man Compatibility Score. AI-Generated.
When a Libra woman meets a Libra man, the attraction is almost instant. Both are ruled by Venus — the planet of love, beauty, charm, and partnership. This pairing often feels like meeting someone who already understands you before words are even spoken. Their energy is elegant, polite, romantic, and emotionally refined.
By Inspire and Fun9 months ago in Humans
Roots and Fruit
Roots and Fruit Photo by Lukáš Kulla on Unsplash Most people evaluate life by what shows. Results, behavior, success, failure, growth, collapse. Fruit is easier to measure than roots, so it becomes the focus almost by default. When something goes wrong, attention rushes to what is visible and immediate. When something goes right, credit is assigned to the most recent action. But this way of seeing consistently misreads causality. Fruit is never the beginning of the story. It is the result of something that has been growing quietly, often unnoticed, for a long time.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast9 months ago in Humans
The Sky Was Never Empty. AI-Generated.
The Sky Was Never Empty I used to think the sky was empty. Just blue. Just air. Just a background stretched above my life while I rushed from one place to another pretending I mattered more than I felt. At seventeen, everyone says life is just beginning. These are the years you’ll remember forever. The laughter. The friends. The late-night messages. The inside jokes. But no one talks about the quiet parts. The crowded hallways where you still feel invisible. The phone lighting up — but never for you. The ceiling you stare at wondering why everything feels heavier than it should. I got good at pretending. I laughed when everyone laughed. Nodded when people spoke. Said “I’m fine” so smoothly it almost convinced me. But inside — there was this tightness. A knot that wouldn’t loosen. That morning, I woke up already tired. The sunlight was too bright. The alarm too sharp. Getting up felt impossible. Smiling felt impossible. Existing felt… heavy. So I didn’t get on the bus. I walked instead. There’s a hill behind my neighborhood. What’s left of one, anyway. New houses swallowed most of it, leaving a narrow stretch of grass and a worn path curling upward. It’s the kind of place people forget. The kind of place that doesn’t show up in pictures. The climb was steeper than I remembered. My backpack heavier with each step. My lungs burning halfway up. But I kept going. Because I needed to feel something simple. Something real. When I reached the top, I dropped my bag and lay flat on my back. Above me — an endless sky. Clear. Pale blue. Wide beyond measure. No notifications. No voices. No expectations. Just sky. At first, my thoughts were loud. Replaying awkward moments. Unanswered texts. Every time I didn’t quite belong. My mind was louder than the wind. But then— a breeze passed over me. Cool. Steady. The tall grass began to move. Bending. Rising. Like waves. Like breathing. The earth was breathing. And slowly, without trying, I matched it. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. For weeks, my chest had felt tight. Like there wasn’t enough air in the world. But under something so vast — the tightness loosened. The sky didn’t care about my missed messages. It didn’t judge my silences. It didn’t expect me to be impressive. It just existed. Wide. Patient. And for the first time in a long time, I felt small in a way that felt safe. I had been carrying everything like it was permanent. Like every awkward moment would define me forever. Like every lonely afternoon was proof I would always feel alone. But the cloud above me shifted shape. Stretched. Dissolved. Nothing held its form for long. Not even my feelings. I sat up. From the hilltop, I could see rooftops in neat rows. Cars moving. People rushing through their mornings carrying invisible weights. Maybe I wasn’t the only one pretending. Maybe everyone is quieter inside than they seem. That thought didn’t fix everything. It didn’t give me instant friends. Or confidence. Or clarity about who I’m supposed to become. But it gave me space. Space between thoughts. Space between fears. Space to exist without measuring myself against everyone else. I leaned back into the sun. “I’m still here,” I whispered. Fragile words. But true ones. I had survived every hard day so far. Every silent lunch. Every moment I thought I wouldn’t. The wind brushed across the grass again. Not a voice. Not magic. Just this— Keep breathing. The sky stretched endlessly above me. Not demanding answers. Not demanding perfection. Just giving me room. Eventually, I picked up my backpack. I couldn’t stay on the hill forever. Homework was waiting. Classmates were waiting. Life was waiting. The loneliness hadn’t disappeared. The uncertainty hadn’t dissolved. But they didn’t feel suffocating anymore. Because I understood something now: Feelings can be loud without being permanent. You can feel lost without being broken. You can feel alone without being the only one. As I walked down the hill, the path didn’t seem as steep. The houses didn’t seem as small. And even when rooftops hid the sky, I knew it was still there. Waiting. Wide. Patient. When my phone buzzed, it was just a homework message. Nothing dramatic. But I smiled. Not because everything was perfect. But because I had found something steadier than perfection. I had found breath. I had found space. And on a forgotten hill, beneath an open sky, I learned something simple: Sometimes the world answers you not with words— but with wind. And sometimes… that’s enough. --
By Zulfiqar Ahmad9 months ago in Humans
