Our Greatest Sexual Concerns

More on sexual dysfunction. A recent European study looking at male and female sexual concerns when calling a helpline* disclosed the following:

• Users were more often male (62.2%), aged between 26 and 35 years
• Males most frequently reported sexual difficulties were erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation
• The majority of female callers reported vaginismus and orgasmic disorder (OD)
• There was a definite association between desire disorder (DD) and ED in men (41.7%)
• There was a definite association between OD and DD in women (36.8%)

Although erectile dysfunction and orgasmic disorder are old hat for me (I mean what I know about them...now stop!), I had never heard of vaginismus. For others that don't know, vaginismus is the tensing up of vaginal/pelvic musculature preventing penetration. It is comparable to to the response of the eye shutting when an object comes towards it. It is not under the conscious control of the woman affected.

And I was rather amazed in my research that there exists an actual association for asexual people. How 'bout that--I had no idea. The incidence of people exhibiting asexuality, also known as non-sexuality, is reported at 1%. Wow! Like I said, never had a clue. Well, different strokes for different folks, if you'll forgive the pun.

The study on sexual concerns concludes with placing an importance on sexual counseling--talking about the problems. For men, I'll refer back to the last post. For women, the good news is the capacity for orgasm increases with age, especially as women acquire more knowledge about the responses of their bodies. And masturbatory training is available (I do NOT make this stuff up) to help women with orgasmic disorder.

Finally, for asexuals...be who you are. Join the association if you are looking for like minded people as support. Other than that just focus on what you love. That's what life is ultimately about anyway.

*The study included selected records of the calls received during the 3-year period between 2006 and 2008.