Anorgasmia
From Academic Kids
Anorgasmia is a form of sexual dysfunction, sometimes classified as a psychiatric disorder, where the patient cannot achieve orgasm, even with "adequate" stimulation. Anorgasmia is far more common in females than in males.
Anorgasmia, being rarer in men, is especially rare in younger men. One proposed—and disputed—cause of anorgasmia during intercourse in younger men is an atypical masturbation style—according to two doctors and one psychologist. When this is done in the prone (face-down) position, one clinician, and a website devoted to promoting it calls it traumatic masturbatory syndrome.
Another cause for anorgasmia, for both men and women, is the use of anti-depressants, particularly those known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Though reporting of anorgasmia as a side-effect of SSRIs is not precise, it is estimated that 15-50% of users of such medications are affected by this condition. Some popular SSRIs are Effexor, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft.
The rest of this article discusses anorgasmia in women.
Two types of anorgasmia have been defined, primary anorgasmia and secondary anorgasmia.
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Primary Anorgasmia
Women with primary anorgasmia have never had an orgasm.
These women can sometimes achieve a relatively low level of sexual excitement and may think of intercourse or other sexual activities as pleasant. They may get most of their reward from touching, holding, kissing, caressing, attention, and approval. However, women who regularly achieve high levels of sexual response without orgasmic release of tension may find the experience frustrating. Emotional irritability, restlessness, and pelvic pain or a heavy pelvic sensation may occur because of vascular engorgement.
Women who have not yet had an orgasm usually have some combination of the following:
- Sociocultural inhibitions that interfere with normal sexual response.
- A lack of knowledge about sex and sexuality, which interferes with normal sexual development.
- A lack of opportunity to practice in a safe, secure, socially acceptable, and private atmosphere (alone or in a relationship) in a situation that offers approval and support.
- A partner who ejaculates prematurely.
- A partner who has primary or secondary difficulty in achieving an erection.
- Dyspareunia, or painful intercourse.
- Genital mutilation ("female circumcision") that removes part or all of the clitoris, scars the genital area, or constricts the opening to the vagina. Often, vaginal intercourse is painful not only because of scarring from this procedure but also because of associated infection.
Secondary Anorgasmia
Secondary anorgasmia is the loss of the ability to have orgasms. The cause may be alcoholism, depression, grief, medication, illness, estrogen deprivation associated with menopause or an event that has violated the patient's sexual value system.
Situational Anorgasmia
Women who are orgasmic in some situations may not be in others. A woman may have an orgasm from one type of stimulation but not from another. Or a woman may achieve orgasm with one partner but not another, or have an orgasm only under certain conditions or only with a certain type or amount of foreplay. These common variations are within the range of normal sexual expression.
Doctors believe that a woman with situational anorgasmia should be encouraged to explore alone and with her partner those factors that may affect whether or not she is orgasmic, such as fatigue, emotional concerns, feeling pressured to have sex when she is not interested, or her partner's sexual dysfunction.
The same doctors believe that family planners should consider recommending the female-above position for penile-vaginal intercourse, as it may allow for greater stimulation of the clitoris by the penis or symphysis pubis or both, and it allows the woman better control of movement. Bridging is the combining of a successful method for sexual stimulation with a desired technique so that the body learns to associate orgasm with that technique. If, for example, the woman is readily orgasmic with manual stimulation but not with penile-vaginal thrusting, she is encouraged to combine those two regularly until her body has learned to associate high levels of excitement and orgasm with penile-vaginal thrusting.
Random Anorgasmia
Some women are orgasmic but not in enough instances to satisfy their sense of what is appropriate or desirable. Often such women have trouble giving up control and allowing themselves to respond fully. Therapy can be aimed at helping them give up the need to keep their sexual feelings under control at all times.
The original text for this article is taken from the public domain CDC text at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/drh/Africa_pdf/Chap_10.pdfde:Anorgasmie fi:Anorgasmia
