chapter 18 Flashcards
what is a sexual disorder / dysfunction
a problem with sexual response that causes a person psychological distress or interpersonal difficulty
they can be lifelong, acquired, generalized, or situational
male hypoactive sexual desire disorder
• Occurs when an individual does not have spontaneous thoughts or fantasies about sexual activity and is not interested in sexual activity
• Also sometimes termed inhibited sexual desire or low sexual desire
• Complex problems of definition
• Can be normal in some circumstances for a person not to experience sexual desire
erectile disorder
the inability to have an erection or maintain one (erectile dysfunction, inhibited sexual excitement)
can be psychological, pharmaceutical, biological (diabetes, accidents)
physical causes:
• Organic factors such as heart disease or diabetes
• Low testosterone levels (hypogonadism)
premature (early) ejaculation
• Occurs when a man persistently has an orgasm and ejaculates sooner than desired during sexual activity with a partner and is distressed about the problem
• Common problem in the general male population
• Can create a web of psychological problems
physical causes:
• Often psychological factors
• Physical hypersensitivity
• Infection of the prostate
delayed ejaculation
• Also known as male orgasmic disorder
• Occurs when a man cannot have an orgasm, even though he is highly aroused
• Less common than early ejaculation
• A man may be able to orgasm by hand or mouth stimulation, but not during intercourse
• A man may have never experienced orgasm
physical causes:
• Often psychological factors
• Spinal injury, MS, prostate surgery
female sexual interest / arousal disorder
refers to a lack of or significantly reduced sexual interest or arousal that causes significant distress
- not due to psychological or relationship distress
- difficulty with arousal and lubrication are common
female orgasmic disorder
refers to a womans recurrent difficulty having an orgasm or reduced orgasm intensity during almost all sexual activity
• Also known as orgasmic dysfunction, anorgasmia, or inhibited female orgasm
physical causes:
• Often psychological issues
• Severe illness, poor health
genito-pelvic pain / penetration disorder
Refers to any one of four symptoms that typically occur together
• Difficulty having intercourse or penetration
• Marked genital and/or pelvic pain during penetration attempts (Dyspareunia — pain experienced during intercourse)
• Fear of pain associated with vaginal penetration
• Marked tension or tightening of the pelvic floor muscles during attempts at vaginal penetration
Painful Intercourse
• Disorders of entrance to vagina such as painful scars from episiotomy, inflection of Bartholin glands
• Disorders of the vagina or vaginal infections
• Pelvic disorders such as PID, tumours, cysts, endometriosis
• Dysfunction of the pelvic floor muscles
• Organic or psychological factors
vaginismus
vaginismus: associated a lot of the time with sexual trauma, sexual abuse that lead to traumatic memories about sex, the opening to the vagina completely close off, and in some instances, the penis nor any other object cannot enter, this can be a reaction to previous sexual trauma, the vagina closes off and the muscle closes off to protect the person from previous trauma in the past. this can also happen because of regligious things (not even a finger can go)
this is not the same thing as other disorders
how do certain drugs cause sexual disorders
alcohol
Alcoholism
• May disrupt sex hormones
• Impairs desire
• Damage testes and liver
• At low dosages may drop inhibitions
• At high dosages, alcohol acts as a depressant and suppresses arousal
cannabis
Marijuana (i.e., cannabis, pot, weed)
• Aphrodisiac properties but scientific research is limited
• Many people report increases in sexual desire and perceive sexual interactions as more pleasurable
• High doses and chronic use may have negative effects on desire, arousal, and orgasm
• Could be related to more risky sexual behaviours
Cocaine
• Chronic use results in loss of sexual desire, erectile disorders
Amphetamines
• Injection of amphetamines is sometimes described as a sensation of a total-body
orgasm
• May delay or make orgasm impossible
Crystal Methamphetamine (Ice)
• Tendency to engage in riskier sex
• Hallucinations, violent behaviour
Opiates (morphine, heroin)
• Long-term use leads to low testosterone levels in males
prescription drugs
Drugs that affect CNS can affect sexual functioning
• Psychiatric drugs – used in treatment of psychological disorders
• Drugs to treat schizophrenia; “dry orgasm”
• Antidepressants; low arousal, low desire
• Blood pressure medications; erection problems
• Epilepsy medications; erection problems
psychological causes of sexual disorders
- predisposing factors
- maintaining factors
- maintaining individual causes
- maintaining interpersonal factors
- predisposing factors
Predisposing Factors
• Things that happened in childhood or adolescence
Maintaining Factors
• Ongoing life circumstances, personal characteristics and characteristics of
lovemaking
Maintaining Individual Causes
• Myths or misinformation
• Negative attitudes
• Anxieties such as fear of failure
• Cognitive interference - thoughts that distract a person from focusing on erotic experience
• Spectatoring – watching rather than experiencing pleasure
• Behavioural and lifestyle factors
Maintaining Interpersonal Factors
• Failure to engage in effective sexually stimulating behaviour
• Communication – expect partner to “read your mind”
• Relationship distress
Predisposing Factors
• Family that communicated negative attitudes about sex
• Early sexual experiences that were traumatic
• Child sexual abuse
how do people with sexual disorders tend to interpret their arousal
they interpret is as anxiety
The physiological processes and cognitive interpretations form a feedback loop
• Interpreting arousal as sexual arousal increases arousal further.
