JOIN USThe survey of 600 Italians up to 35 years-old, conducted by Rome-based gynaecology and obstetrics organisation Sigo, has found 29 percent of males and 35 percent of females say they are disappointed by intimate activity between the sheets.
The roots of carnal discontent is the Italian youth's practice of taking alcohol or drugs to relax prior to sex, said the new report, released in Milan.
The report reveals 64 percent of male respondents and 52 percent of females say alcohol helps sexual intimacy. Eleven percent of men and 13 percent of women say the same thing about drugs, according to the survey.
"It's self-medication to cure fear of performance and a sense of inadequacy," that can take the fun out of sex, said Milan-based sex therapist and gynaecologist Alessandra Grazionttin, in the report released ahead of Valentine's Day (Feb 14).
The result is premature ejaculation for 32 percent of Italian males who are unhappy with sex, while 27 percent have difficulty getting an erection, and 21 percent describe performance worries as a pleasure killer.
A drop in sexual desire ruins sex for around one-quarter of unsatisfied females, while pain during sex accounts for 21 percent of dismay for Italy's young women.