One way of dealing with the wonderful, mysterious and sometimes rather terrifYing power of one's sexuality is simply to abstain from expressing it at all. This is an option people have exercised for centuries, for brief or prolonged periods and for a variety of reasons ranging from religious conviction to lack of desire to lack of a partner.

There's nothing wrong with abstinence and no reason to believe it's harmful to one's health, acording to the Kinsey Institute. But it is, perhaps, a testament to the astounding power of sexual desire that there are so few individuals who remain sexually abstinent for very long. (The body provides an "escape valve" for sexual tension, even for those who are abstinent during their waking lives - both men and women experience orgasm during sleep, although only men produce nocturnal emissions.)