is sex a want or a need?  Bottom line it is a need.  I believe I am like most men and women at some point you have to have a release.  Yes it can be put off for a while but eventually it builds to a point of have to have,  Not like a breath but similar to that 5 o'clock drink, the round of golf or a day of nothing just to rewind.  A want is something that lurks in your mind on a list not something right up front that occupies so much of my time and energy that I am a member here.  I am not a member of the Hawaii travel board, I want  to go there. I want to win the lottery. I want world peace.

Is a want.

Your examples as a need:

5 o'clock drink, a round of golf, or a day off just to unwind are all wants, not needs.  Yes, a breath is a need.

Your needs examples are the same as your wants...wanting to go to Hawaii, wanting to win the lottery....

Wanting a round of golf, wanting sex.

Sex is not a need, it is a want.

You don't need sex, you want sex, you lust for sex, and is why you have found this board.

If you need release....the power is in your own hands., lol....

Sex is a want.

Sexuality, although not a physiological need, is none the less one of Maslow's 7 hierarchy of needs.  The question is how you define a "need".  If the definition is a physical requirement to survive, then no, its not a need.  Quadriplegics are unable to perform sexual acts and survive.  However, if "need" is defined as a broader requirement of a human need, then sex and a sense of belonging is a "need".

But for me a need. I do not get short tempered after a week or 2 with out a trip to Hawaii
  But the personality changes without sex. Same as with a drink or the down time at some point it becomes a have to have. That means need. Now that does not mean I always wait till  I need it. Which is a nother reason I am here

Or consider what you could buy for the cost of a two-hour session with an upscale provider? I just bought a Sig Sauer 1911 Fastback Carry for the price of one of those sessions, for example. Old Lady-five-fingers will have to suffice this month while my hand strokes to a mental composite of remembered or fantasized experiences.

Break out in song...

It is a need that you won't necessarily die from right away like going without breathing or water or food. I think the negative consequences of no release are subtle and cumulative- like a vitamin deficiency. The effects of deprivation are such that you might not pinpoint lack of sex as a cause. Things like anxiety, depression, fatigue, heart burn, etc can probably be attributable to lack of release.

If you go without release long enough, you will have a wet dream. The body must release- both men and women. Also someone mentioned a psychological need a la Maslow. I believe that's true too. Repressed sexuality becomes a warped sexuality...  

So I posit that it's a need. Both physically and psychologically.

-- Modified on 4/9/2013 10:53:03 PM

http://www.forbes.com/2003/10/08/cz_af_1008health.html

is something I don't try to beat. I don't worry about whether it is a need by definition, it is something I am going to do.
The abstinence crowd always seem to have great ideas, statistics, morals etc. but people are going to have sex whether you preach for or against it.
If it is a want for someone who controls the urge by logic, great for them.
If it is a need for someone who finds an outlet, great for them.
The only problem is when you preach your platform as being the correct platform for others, not so great.

The body by its nature prompts the need/desire for sex making us want sex.

Been to Hawaii many times.  The absolute best time to go is in the summer, and skip everywhere else and go straight to the north shore of Kauai.  Great sunsets, beaches, no crowds, and awesome golf at Princeville.  I stay at a waterfront cliffside condo overlooking Hanalei Bay for about a grand a week.  My favorite place on the planet!  I NEED to get back there!  Aloha!