I really love the 'breaking sex ban' discourse, but one thing it fails to mention is the impact it has on single adults who live with their parents/in shared accommodation. I have some *opinions* that I want to share.

I've found that a lack of sex/physical intimacy of any kind has massively impacted my mental health negatively, as a single 22 y/o woman living with my family. My self-esteem is actually a lot lower, which goes hand-in-hand with the fact that I'm severely lonely

I haven't had sex since March, and I've had about 4 romances since then (of varying intensity levels). Excluding the guy I'm dating now, none of them have been able to progress because we weren't even allowed to hold each other's hands, let alone have sex.

To add to this, plenty of my friends and people I've *spoken* to have willfully broken lockdown for a casual shag. This is something I couldn't - in good conscience - go out and do in fear of infecting my family. The first kiss I had since last March actually GAVE me the virus.

Which has caused a lot of genuine envy and friction towards myself & other people. The same people often dismiss it because we're living with others, so how could we be lonely? They *deserve* to break the rules because they're living alone, whereas we aren't.

But as human beings, we all need that variety in relationships as much as each other. While we're abundant in familial relationships, we're severely lacking in platonic, romantic and sexual intimacy. Which sucks!!!

That's not to say that we should all go out and start breaking the rules - or pass judgement on those who already have - but the double standard needs to be addressed!

I guess like everything else, it isn't a b&w situation. People who break the sex ban aren't *bad* people and those of us who haven't aren't *good* people. We're all just people trying to do the best we can in a shitty situation. Also I'm gagging for a shag. *end of thread*