Overview
New lecture today on the Sexual Disorders. There are three categories: Sexual Dysfunction Disorders, Paraphilias and Gender Dysphoria.
Once you have read the lecture, let me know which disorder you think would be the most difficult to treat and why.
Here is the lecture
Unit 11: Sexual Disorders (Chapter 13) Lecture
Part I: Sexual Dysfunction
These disorders are characterized by a disturbance in the processes that characterize the sexual response cycle or by pain associated with sexual intercourse. So I will summarize the sexual response cycle first and then describe the disorders.
The Sexual Response Cycle has four parts:
1. Desire: fantasies about sexual activity and the desire to have sexual activity.
2. Excitement: this is a subjective sense of sexual pleasure and accompanying physiological changes.
3. Orgasm: a peaking of sexual pleasure, and a release of sexual tension.
4. Resolution: a sense of muscular relaxation and general well-being. Disorders can occur at any of these stages of the sexual response cycle.
Please review the following disorders that are associated with the sexual response cycle.
1. Delayed Ejaculation
2. Erectile Disorder
3. Female Orgasmic Disorder
4. Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder
5. Genito-Pelvic Pain/Penetration Disorder
6. Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder
7. Premature Ejaculation
Part II: Treatment of Sexual Dysfunction Disorders
Sometimes it is very difficult to people to admit and to talk about these disorders. Once they do, you need to get a detailed medical history, early sexual development history, use of alcohol and drugs, etc. You need to know how the partners feel about each other apart from the sexual relationship, how the relationship has changed, how well they communicate, etc.
In the beginning the therapist may see each person individually to gather this information.
Most treatments have these goals in mind: to promote an atmosphere of mutual communication, to decrease the fear of failure, and to shift attention away from the fear of failure and to the experience of sensory pleasure.
1. Master's and Johnson's approach says that short-term treatment can help. They emphasize treatment of the couples, and they see the couple daily over a two week period of time. They use exercises in erotic stimulation and talk about the sexual needs of each of the partners. Couples are given homework assignments to help them become more aware of their own sexual sensations. They are also given information about the sexual organs, and the physiology of the sexual response cycle. Emphasis is placed on verbal and nonverbal communication.
Sensate Focus: this means that the couple is told not to have sexual intercourse while in treatment. Instead, they are supposed to learn how to re-focus on sensual pleasure, such as caressing, holding, kissing, etc.
2. The Kaplan Approach : This approach combines cognitive-behavioral techniques with more psychodynamic techniques so it is longer term treatment.
Part III: The Paraphilias
This means attraction to the deviant. There are different classes of paraphilias: preference for the use of a non-human object for sexual arousal, repetitive sexual activity with humans that involves real or imagined simulated suffering or humiliation, and repetitive sexual activity with non-consenting partners.
Review the following in your text:
1. Fetishistic Disorder
2. Frotteuristic Disorder
3. Transvestic Disorder
4. Pedohebephilic Disorder
5. Sexual Masochism Disorder
6. Sexual Sadism Disorder (with this we can see Autoerotic Asphyxia: which is the practice of artificially restricting your oxygen supply during sexual self-stimulation in order to enhance sexual enjoyment.
7. Voyeuristic Disorder
8. Exhibitionistic Disorder
Part IV: Gender Identify Disorders
Gender Identity refers to a person's feeling of being male or female.
1. Gender Dysphoria (Formerly called Gender Identity Disorder or Transsexualism)
The symptoms of this disorder can begin in childhood. If so, then the child shows considerable distress at being male or female, and express the desire to be of the opposite sex. These children have a strong and persistent cross-gender identification. They repeatedly say they hate the sex they are and wish to be the opposite sex.
In boys, you see a preference for cross-dressing or simulating female attire, and in girls you see an insistence on wearing only stereotypical male clothing. There is also a strong and persistent preference for cross-sex roles in make believe play or persistent fantasies of being the other sex. There is an intense desire to participate in the stereotypical games and past-times of the other sex. There is also a persistent discomfort with his or her sex or a sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex. Boys will say that their penis is disgusting, they hate rough and tumble play, they reject male toys. Girls will not urinate sitting down, say that they will grow a penis, say they do not want breasts, etc.
In adults you would continue to see the same symptoms and the person wants to get rid of their sexual organs, and change them to that of the opposite sex. Before this is done they have to go through a lot of psychological testing, and even live as a person as the opposite sex for a year or more before being allowed to have the surgery.