Culture portrays sex as purely physical, being all about physical pleasure. While sex is a physical act, there is a Medical Model of Health that supports that sex is indeed, not just physical, because you are not only a physical person, but a whole person.
How do we assess someone’s health? If they contract a sickness, a person goes to the Doctor and gets medicine. However, have you ever met a person free of disease who is not a very healthy person? It’s because health should not be measured or defined by just our physical needs. The Medical Model of Health states we are: physical, ethical, social, mental, and emotional.
Sex is ethical. Sex should be a choice. In a healthy, committed relationship like marriage, sex can be very positive and enrich the intimacy and commitment of the relationship. Without a choice, actions done to a person can affect them for the rest of their life. In a violating, abusive relationship, sex against another person’s will can cause a person to question whether sex can be good.
Sex is social. How does it affect us socially? Adding sex too soon to a relationship can make a relationship awkward, change the relationship, or even end it. Or someone can earn a reputation when people find out about their sexual relationships. People can be bullied because of personal information being disclosed to the wrong people.
Sex is mental. Sex begins in the mind first. That is why pornography is so damaging to relationships because it teaches us what sex is not about: us and violence. When we train our brain that fantasy is reality, fantasy will let you down every time. How do you prevent this from happening? Guard the purity of your mind. If you want a great sexual relationship it starts with protecting false sexual images that steal from your future sexual relationships.
Sex is emotional. Sex is meant for bonding two people together in a marriage relationship. One where we don’t worry about a person leaving us tomorrow for someone else. There are proven studies that show married people have the best sex because in a marriage one spouse is concerned about the needs and emotions of the other, and vice versa.
A person can be assessed by their ethical, social, mental, emotional, and physical aspects of their health. Sex outside of marriage can cause damage physically if an unplanned pregnancy occurs, or we contract an STI, but it can also affect us holistically. You meet someone, are attracted to them, and grow a connection-social and emotional. You make a decision to show someone you care about them-mental. Then you make the choice (ethical) to add sex to the relationship (physical).
Making a decision to be sexually active should be made with caution because it can affect us as a whole person. We cannot feed one area, deprive another, and be a completely healthy individual.