I just saw this thread and went back and read most of the posts before realizing that it was started quite awhile back. There are sure some interesting thoughts on this including much of which is off the original topic. While the topic was sex used to cope, it didn't specify whether it was casual sex, monogamous, or masturbation for that matter. There is discussions about consequences, shaming, and personal regrets as well as the magic number of partners that would indicate mental illness. Someone asked why men regret having a lot of casual sex????I have had a few men tell me that as well. Often they have been men who have been deceiving their partner. When they have become older and wiser, they have regretted that decision on many levels....for the deceit, the pain it has caused, being caught, and also on an internal and personal level that has been described as being weaker than their temptations. As a woman, I have regrets. Some has been tied to trauma indirectly, not feeling that I have had a choice, trading for some comfort, and just plain old "What the hell was I thinking". Ive also had sex as a coping mechanism that was not all that unhealthy at the time.....in a monogamous relationship without high risk and as a distraction from the problems faced at that moment. It does seem most women have some regrets outside of consequences such as pregnancy and std's. How much of that is society's shaming??I don't know.