During the confrontation with Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh of the left-wing National Front, Mohammad Reza was often depressed, being in her words "somber and distressed" to the extent he even stopped playing poker with his friends, which had been one of his main passions. She stated that only sex could lift Mohammad Reza out of his depression, and she often invited the Shah into her bed to keep his spirits up. Several times, Soraya advised Mohammad Reza "to screw up his courage to the sticking point".