Men and women have many sexual problems which frequently arise because of other problems within a relationship or simply because of individual differences. These differences consist of differences in expectations, assumptions, desire, preferred behaviors, and relationship conflicts. Although these differences create sexual problems in both men and women, problems among men and women are different. The World Health Organization’s International Classifications of Diseases defines sexual problems as “the various ways in which an individual is unable to participate in a sexual relationship as he or she would wish.” Sexual disorders, according to the DSM-IV-TR, are disturbances in sexual desire and psycho-physiological changes that characterize the sexual response cycle and cause marked distress, and interpersonal difficulty. There are four major categories of sexual problems: desire disorders, arousal disorders, orgasmic disorders, and sexual pain disorders.
- Hypoactive sexual desire
- Low sexual drive
- Occurs at the excitement phase
- Sexual aversion
- Anticipation of any kind of sexual interactions causes great anxiety
- Sexual arousal disorder
- In men, erectile dysfunction
- In women, the difficulty of becoming aroused
- Orgasmic disorders
- In men, premature ejaculation and ejaculatory incompetence
- In women, the inability to have an orgasm
- Hypersexuality (sexual addiction)
- Sexual pain disorders
- In men, four different disorders:
- Dyspareunia (pain during intercourse due to a physical problem)
- Post-ejaculatory syndrome (pain in the genitals during or after orgasm)
- Priapism (prolonged erection)
- Coital cephalalgia (migraine headaches during and after orgasm)
- In women, three different disorders:
- Dyspareunia (recurrent genital pain during intercourse)
- Vaginismus (vagina involuntarily closes)
- Noncoital sexual pain disorder (genital pain due to arousal)
- In men, four different disorders:
