Lockdown has had varying effects on libido
Credit: Illustrations by Yordanka Poleganova
So how was it for you, during this global pandemic? Last spring was ripe with predictions of a baby boom, recalls psychosexual therapist Amanda Barge – talk of “it’ll be like the 1970s, when we had power cuts: people just went to bed and had sex.” She says: “I don’t think it’s necessarily panned out that way.”
Turns out there is nothing arousing about a government-imposed lockdown. “We’ve had to do what we’re told,” says Barge. “It’s a bit like your parents saying, ‘You’re not going out tonight.’ It’s not hugely sexy. People got into baking, cooking, growing vegetables – again, not hugely sexy; more comforting and homely. So it’s been hard for couples to keep the erotic.”