Can semen cure the blues?

A researcher says male ejaculate may act as an antidepressant -- but other scientists aren't swallowing his theory.

By Martin F. Downs

Jun 19, 2002 | A report appearing this month in an obscure medical journal, the "Archives of Sexual Behavior," shows that women who enjoy sex au natural are less depressed than those who use condoms. The reason: semen may be an antidepressant.

Few would associate a glob of semen with a dose of Prozac, but many will say that bare sex with a beloved partner makes them feel good.

"If that's the truth, I must be the happiest woman on the planet," says Wifey, the star of WifeysWorld.com, where she and her husband (yes, Hubby) open their bedroom to subscribing voyeurs. "I have probably consumed quarts of semen in my life and I can certainly attest to a heightened feeling afterwards. I suppose it makes sense. "Put me on the 'I think it's true' side of the ledger," she says.

"The act of sex is more pleasurable without condoms," says Janice (not her real name), a fashion designer in Chicago who has struggled with depression since age 16. "The whole next day you really feel much better. There's definitely a difference."

Study author Gordon Gallup, a psychology professor at the State University of New York in Albany, thinks the post-coital buzz Wifey describes and the sexual healing Janice experiences may be caused by some unknown chemical in semen.

It all began with cohabiting lesbians. Two studies showed that while heterosexual women who live together often have their periods at the same time, lesbians living in close quarters do not. The phenomenon of menstrual synchrony is believed to be caused by pheromones in sweat. Gallup thought that if lesbians have the same pheromones breeders have, maybe the difference is exposure to semen, or a lack thereof. Then he happened upon a 1986 report in an out-of-the-way journal called "Medical Hypotheses." Psychologist P.G. Ney wrote of a depressed woman who made an astounding recovery as soon as she got laid.

No surprise there. But, as its name suggests, the journal is a forum for wild speculation, so Ney put forth the idea that something in her lover's ejaculate cured her.

Gallup says he was intrigued, and spent more time sifting through the medical literature to see if he could find any scientific basis for Ney's report and the case of the asynchronous lesbians.

He found some compelling evidence. Semen is a nutritious medium that supports spermatozoa on their journey through a woman's plumbing. That's what we learned in sex ed, but it's not the whole of it. In fact, semen is a rich chemical brine, containing testosterone, estrogen and other hormones: prostaglandins (made in the prostate gland), as well as luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone (both trigger ovulation). Scientists know that chemicals in semen are absorbed into a woman's bloodstream through the vagina. "There's clear evidence that there's transport," Gallup says. "There's no question about that."

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