Lack of female sexual desire is basically impotence’s poor little sister. And by poor we mean starving-tramp-in-the-streets-begging-for-a-cup-of-tea poor, as opposed to erectile dysfunction’s billionaire status. There is even a fair amount of dispute amongst doctors as to whether hypoactive sexual desire disorder is even a medical, potentially treatable disorder.
Any news of research being done into the condition is always cheering, so we were pleased to hear about the findings of a team of researchers based in America, at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. They conducted a series of phone interviews with just over 1,000 post-menopausal women to discover how many of them were experiencing a reduced sex drive. The results indicated that between 9 to 26% of women suffered from this problem and furthermore concluded that a significant number of those women were twice as likely to report other health problems, including back pain, fatigue and concerns about their memory.
The researchers discovered that women experiencing HSDD were significantly more likely to be depressed and battling dissatisfaction with their home lives and partners. The team state that their research proves that HSDD is a serious problem and places a weighty burden on the shoulders of those who are suffering. Andrea K. Biddle, associate professor of health policy and management at Gillings, said : “Our research shows that HSDD is a significant and clinically relevant problem, and not a normal or inevitable part of the aging process...Women with the disorder experience health burdens similar to individuals with serious chronic conditions."
It is always encouraging to hear that that we are moving one step closer to seeing this condition more widely recognised. The attitude amongst certain sections of the scientific community that lack of female sex drive is unfortunate but not very worthy of treatment is incredibly depressing, since we know that sexual problems can be hugely damaging to mental health and relationships. It was a big enough struggle to raise erectile dysfunction’s profile, but considering the historical attitude towards female sexuality (ie. if you’re not having fun, lie back and think of England) which still impacts on how we think of women’s – and especially older women’s – sex lives, it seems likely that the road will be even more uphill when it comes to this disorder.