Part 3: Your Husband Just Lost His Job: How to Respond

Tip #6: Sex

You might have suspected this was going to make it into the list somewhere. In our research for For Women Only I was shocked to see just how much sex meets an emotional need for a man—far, far more than a physical one. And during a season when he is doubting himself or depressed, seeing that his wife wants to be with him in this way is profoundly impactful.

The truth that we as women often don’t recognize is that a man deeply wants to feel wanted and desired by his wife—to feel that he is desirable. He wants to know that he can please her, sexually. When she shows that she enjoys it, it makes him feel that he is good at something important! More generally, when she responds to his advances—or initiates her own!—it is a dramatic emotional support. And it builds a closeness that is hard to build any other way.

As one man told me, “Everything can be falling apart around me. But if I know my wife desires me, there is a sense that I can handle anything. I know it might sound odd to you. But it goes very, very deep into the heart of a man.”