This Common Feeling Could Be Affecting Your Sex Life More Than You Think
· Vice
Boredom has been responsible for regrettable Amazon orders, entire bags of shredded cheese eaten over the sink, and texts sent to people who should have stayed buried in 2019. Research suggests sex may belong on that list too, especially when someone feels their sexual behavior has become difficult to control.
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A systematic review published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine examined 19 studies on boredom and hypersexual behavior, broadly defined as sexual activity that feels compulsive or out of control. Fifteen found a meaningful link. One study reported that 71% of participants used online sexual activity to cope with boredom. Another, involving men who have sex with men, found that sex used to relieve boredom was the strongest predictor of hypersexual behavior. Kinsey Institute research fellow Dr. Justin Lehmiller has also pointed to sexual boredom itself. A repetitive sex life, according to the research he discussed in Psychology Today, might fuel the urge to seek sexual stimulation elsewhere.
Boredom May Play a Bigger Role in Compulsive Sex Than People Realize
Compulsive sexual behavior disorder made it into the ICD-11 in 2022, and the research since has been more interested in what precedes the behavior than in the behavior itself. A 2024 paper found that boredom, loneliness, anxiety, and depression were the emotional states most associated with feeling unable to control sexual behavior. Sometimes the horniness happens after a bad afternoon, sitting in an empty apartment, or just having three hours with absolutely nothing to do.
The same pattern is found for those in relationships. A 2025 study of 225 participants found that sexual boredom predicted lower partnered desire and lower satisfaction overall. Researchers pointed to routine and what they called the “trivialization of sexuality” as contributors. Once sex starts feeling scheduled or just something to check off the to-do list, people start craving novelty.
That complicates treatment built around self-control and moral judgment. Someone who reaches for sex during boredom, anxiety, or depression could be trying to interrupt an unpleasant mental state. The same goes for people who raid the fridge in the middle of the night or pour themselves another drink. The sexual behavior gets everyone’s attention because, well, sex tends to do that.
Boredom is an annoying answer. It doesn’t have the clinical gravity of trauma or the narrative pull of addiction. It’s the hour after dinner when nothing sounds good, and the phone isn’t cutting it either. Across 19 studies, that same ordinary state keeps appearing alongside compulsive sexual behavior—which suggests that what gets labeled a sex problem may, in a lot of cases, just be too much time on your hands and nothing to do with it.
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