Claude Fourie

24-hour war coverage causes distress that infiltrates intimate relationships. Modern media exposure triggers an HPA-axis response—surging cortisol and suppressing reproductive hormones—which disrupts libido and arousal. Rather than individual pathology, clinicians must frame intimacy shifts as predictable, neurobiological reactions. Partners often split into withdrawal versus affiliation-seeking drives, causing conflict. Therapy focuses on media boundaries, somatic coregulation.

Couples across the world in therapy are complaining that they are emotionally spent. But lately, the exhaustion isn't just coming from decades-long marriages it’s coming from the front lines of modern dating. People are profoundly burnt out.

Following orgasm, the body enters a resolution phase marked by detumescence and a drop in heart rate. For men, a physiological refractory period immediately follows, during which a surge in hormones like prolactin inhibits immediate re-arousal and erection for minutes to hours. In contrast, women experience a slower return to a non-aroused state without a mandatory physiological pause, allowing for continued arousal, immediate re-stimulation, or potential multiple orgasms.