Sex is a wonderful thing. Everybody loves sex, whether they like talking about it openly or not. For all you males reading this, wouldn’t you like to be known around town as the greatest man between sheets of all time? Or husbands and men in steady relationship – wouldn’t you like your woman to be amazed at your new found sexual knowledge and have her beg you for more sex? Sex can be the greatest pleasure a person can ever experience – or a major disappointment.
A recent study of female clients done by Australian researchers and a professor at the University of Utah found that post-coital dysphoria (PCD) is common among women. PCD, as they explained it “is the experience of negative affect following otherwise satisfactory sexual intercourse.” they went on to state that people who experience PCD do not have the usual happy feelings; but feel sad, anxious, irritable or melancholy. It is not generally referred to as depression after sex.
An abstract of this study published in the international journal of sexual health states that the study examined the lifetime and 4-week prevalence of post coital dysphoria (PCD) and its relationship with psychological distress and reports of past sexual abuse. It states that “Among 222 female university students, 32.9% reported having ever experienced PCD whereas 10% reported experiencing PCD in the previous 4 weeks.” From the study there was some correlation with the past experiences with psychological distress, and the lifetime prevalence of PCD, but not the 4-week prevalence, was also correlated with reports of childhood sexual abuse.
Common causes of sexually related depression
While the study explains to us about the dysphoria after sex, there may be causes of depression before, during of even after sex that come due to past experiences such as:
•Rape and Child Sexual Abuse.
•Sexual Aggression in Warfare. Religious and Ethnic Conflicts.
•Date Rape and Acquaintance Rape
•Intimate Partner Rape and Violence.
•Sexual Harassment
What causes PCD?
There are a few suggestions as to the causes of PCD such as:
•Hormonal imbalance that leads to some form of irritability, mood swings or anxiety
•Poor choice of partners where most women regret the choice of the men they have long after they are tied to the relationship. This is common in both parties an to some extend leads to other marital problems if it persists. However, Robert Simmons, MD, a clinical psychologist in Virginia, says that feeling “blue” after sex because of regretting a choice of partner does not fall under the definition of PCD and is not a type of sexual dysfunction.
Treating PCD
Dr Robert Simmons suggests that PCD could be treated with insight-oriented psychotherapy. According to the university of Toronto, Insight-oriented psychotherapy is “ a form of treatment that helps people through understanding and expressing feelings, motivations, beliefs, fears and desires” . This form of treatment was developed from psychoanalysis, therapy first established by Sigmund Freud. In this case the doctor and the patient meet face to face in which the patient is free to speak as freely as possible, disclosing everything that comes to mind. On the other hand, the doctor listens “in an empathic way, paying attention to the feeling component of the material including any discomfort or anxiety that the patient experiences”.
Men have also been shown to have PCD in which they might try to avoid any physical contact after sexual intercourse.
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Love and Sex