Explore every episode of the podcast Turned On

Lydia spent more than a decade thriving in high-pressure environments, from working as an infantry soldier, paratrooper and team leader to leading corporate strategy and marketing for some of North America’s biggest brands.

She was capable, productive and very good under pressure. She was also working up to 120 hours a week, using busyness to manage anxiety and slowly losing the capacity her body needed for sleep, digestion, recovery, pleasure and sex.

In this personal episode of Turned On, Lydia shares how someone who historically wanted sex every day could suddenly go three or four months without thinking about it, and why it took her so long to connect that change with the much bigger picture of what her body had been managing.

She explores what low libido actually looked like for her, from feeling like she couldn’t be bothered to struggling to stay mentally present during sex. She also talks about initially blaming her hormones, SSRIs and possible perimenopause, the physical warning signs she overlooked and why continuing to function convinced her she was fine long after she had run out of capacity.

This isn’t a story about humming, touching grass or regulating your nervous system until your libido magically returns. It’s about learning to recognize your own baseline, noticing when something meaningful changes and asking a better question.

Not: What the hell is wrong with me?

But: What has my body been dealing with?

Because your libido might not actually be the problem. It might be one of the clues.

If you’re tired of guessing why your libido changed, book a call with Lydia at thelibidoclinic.com/call.

Everyone says stress can lower your sex drive. But what does that actually mean physiologically, and why can your libido disappear even when your hormone levels look “normal”?

In this episode of Turned On, Lydia breaks down how your stress-response system, reproductive hormones, nervous system, sleep and mental bandwidth all interact to shape sexual desire and arousal.

You’ll learn why cortisol isn’t inherently bad, why chronic stress doesn’t always mean your cortisol is sky-high and why reducing low libido to a single hormone like testosterone misses a much bigger picture.

Lydia also explores why you can mentally want sex while your body gives you absolutely nothing, how distraction interferes with physical arousal and why having seventeen tabs open in your brain makes it incredibly difficult to become absorbed in pleasure.

Hormones matter. But they don’t operate in isolation, and a “normal” hormone panel doesn’t tell us what your nervous system, sleep, health, relationship or stress levels have been dealing with for the past several years.

Your body isn’t a spreadsheet where correcting one number automatically turns your libido back on. If something has changed in your desire, the more useful question may not be “Which hormone do I need to fix?”

It may be: What changed?

If you’re tired of guessing why your libido disappeared, book a call with Lydia at thelibidoclinic.com/call.

You love your partner. You’re still attracted to them. Your relationship is generally good. So why does sex suddenly feel like one more thing being asked of you?

In the first episode of Turned On, Lydia breaks down the connection between burnout, chronic stress and disappearing desire, including why you might avoid going to bed at the same time as your partner, tense up when affection starts to feel sexual or enjoy sex once it begins but have absolutely no interest in initiating it.

You’ll learn why your body may deprioritize desire when you’ve been functioning under constant demand, how guilt and pressure can make even wanted affection feel loaded and why cringing when your partner touches you doesn’t automatically mean you’re no longer attracted to them.

Burnout isn’t the only possible cause of low libido. Hormones, medications, pain, perimenopause, relationship issues and other health factors can all play a role. But if you’ve been hanging on by a thread while continuing to look completely functional from the outside, that deserves a much closer look.

Because your libido may not be the problem. It may be the clue.

If you’re tired of guessing why your libido changed, book a call with Lydia at thelibidoclinic.com/call.