A new relationship can provide a welcome tonic after the upheaval and unhappiness of divorce or separation. A romantic foray, however fleeting, may help to restore self-esteem, open up social opportunities and help you look more positively to the future.
However, it’s wise to tread carefully when embarking on a new relationship. Your state of mind apart, there are practical considerations to consider – not least the risk of catching a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
A study published this week says reluctance by people in their 30s and 40s to use condoms is contributing to the rise in STIs in Britain. While nearly 70 per cent of teenagers report using a condom when having sex with a partner for the first time, only about 30 per cent of those aged between 35 and 44 took the same precaution. The study adds to growing evidence that high rates of infidelity and divorce are leading older couples to have casual, risky sex, said the online report in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
As Dr Ted Hiscock, a specialist in genito-urinary medicine, wrote previously on this blog site, “barrier” methods of contraception – namely condoms – are the best way to guard against contracting an STI.
It may seem surprising, then, that so many people don’t use condoms when starting a new relationship. It might be that after the trauma of divorce, they don’t think as rationally as they might otherwise do, or it could be because, with the spectre of AIDs having receded in this country over the past few years, they are more concerned about unwanted pregnancies than STIs. Yet as Dr Hiscock detailed in last week’s blog, the risk is very real and the number of STIs significant and, in some cases, extremely serious.
Post-menopausal women, it seems, are especially susceptible to putting themselves at risk of catching an infection because there’s no worry of pregnancy. Couple this with the reported trend in older women seeking romance in foreign climes such as The Gambia and it’s little wonder there is a steady rise in STIs in this country.
So by all means pep your post-married life up with a bit of sexual frisson, but however well you think you know your new partner’s romantic history, always make sure you use a condom!