A growing number of studies show that kinky people are healthier people. Interestingly this includes kinky fantasies even if they’re never acted upon in real life. The kinks can include BDSM, role play, group sex, or whatever turns you on. And the health benefits are both psychological and physiological.
It’s thought the psychological benefits come from being true to oneself, one’s desires. Living in denial, of course, is never healthy. Feeling free enough to explore and experiment relieves stress, to say nothing of relieving sexual stress, even if only in fantasies. This supports my assertion that we should indulge our fantasies as much as we can without judgment. (Moving fantasies into real life is a whole other matter.)
The reduction of stress and the psychological health then lead to better physical health. It has been well established that psychological strife leads to weakened immunity, psychosomatic illness, and other deleterious effects to one’s bodily health. Of course, we also know how orgasms, which fantasies ably support, improve both prostate health and neurotransmitter health.
I think I’ve written on this next point before but I’d like to reiterate it: as long as you clearly delineate between fantasy and reality, there’s no need for limits on fantasy. There’s no need to feel guilty about fantasizing even outrageous kinks like incest, rape, or even — dare I say it? — under-age sex. Of course it’s best to avoid fantasizing about actual, real-life people to avoid blurring the line between fantasy and reality. If fantasy can indeed satisfy us successfully and make us healthier, then maybe even our darkest desires can be met safely without any harm to others. I wonder if our paradoxically repressive-yet-promiscuous culture has done a disservice to our fantasy lives and therefore our health and even safety.
Within minutes of posting, Michael Castleman posted about porn (https://greatsexguidance.substack.com/p/why-does-my-man-watch-porn-is-he) with a statement about rape that seemed to dovetail with my point above:
"Critics charge that porn causes rape. It doesn’t. As Internet porn has become ubiquitous, the sexual assault rate has declined. "
Fantasies can fulfill desires, meaning dark desires need not be fulfilled in real life. I think our culture needs more sex positivity with a focus on fantasy and its benefits for us all, both individually and societally. I might also argue, along these same lines, that the general reduction in the development of imagination in children is linked to behavioral/criminal problems later in life due to poorer abilities to fantasize.