7 Cups 5th Birthday Day 3: 5 Facts about Sexual Dysfunction

This year, for 7 Cups's 5th birthday, the Sexual Health team wants to share 5 facts for 5 days about different Sexual Health topics!

Next up: Sexual Dysfunction

1. Sexual dysfunction can be a really broad way to describe lots of problems, though these usually can be described through categories Desire, Arousal, Orgasm, or Pain. These categories describe a lack of something or it being painful for various reasons. And something as simple as it taking a long time to achieve an orgasm could be a dysfunction, in this example it'd be an orgasm dysfunction.

2. The most common symptoms in both men and women is lack of interest in sex, inability to become aroused, or possible pain during sex. Though there are some symptoms that differ a lot between men and woman. For women the most common ones include; inability to orgasm, little lubrication when aroused, and unable to relax the muscles in the vagina for sex to be not painful or even possible at all in some cases. For men however common symptoms can be erectile dysfunction, and retarded or premature ejaculation.

3. There are many things that can cause a Sexual Dysfunction to manifest, both physical and psychological. Side effects from many medications/drugs can cause them, alongside quite a few health problems such as diabetes or neurological diseases. Your psychological state is very important here as things such as being depression, guilt, poor self image, stress, and anxiety can all cause some dysfunctions. Though it is usually a lot easier to try to remedy these psychological issues, they are also a lot more common.

4. As you age the likelihood of sexual dysfunctions increase. 40% of men age 40 and over for example will claim to have some sort of sexual dysfunction whereas men in their 20s only say this closer to 15% of the time or lower. A lot of this is to do with both hormonal and physical changed in the body, but don't fret with this there are lots of option you have to help yourself with this. Older women can use lubricants to help with the slow decrease in the lubrication provided by the vagina, And older men can use medication among option to counter a huge increase in erectile dysfunction as they age.

5. Overall in all people 43% of women and 31% of men report some sort of problem or dysfunction in their life. This shows that this is very common and that's why there is a lot of help out there. It is a good idea to talk to your doctor, and any partners you have when you notice any of these so you can decide what option you have to try to deal with the problem. There is a bit of a stigma in a lot of cultures about these, but even in those cases there usually is something you can do, such as most countries medicine for erectile dysfunction can be found. There always are a way out and it's natural and normal for some problem to occur sometime!

Resources:

https://www.aasect.org

http://www.smsna.org/V1/index.php

https://sexualadviceassociation.co.uk/womens-sexual-problems/

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/male-sexual-problems/