{{Short description|Medical condition}} {{More citations needed|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox medical condition | name = Hypoactive sexual desire disorder | synonyms = Hyposexuality, inhibited sexual desire | image = | caption = | pronounce = | field = [[Psychiatry]], [[Gynecology]], [[Sexology]], [[Urology]] | symptoms = | complications = | onset = | duration = | types = | causes = | risks = | diagnosis = | differential = | prevention = | treatment = | medication = | prognosis = | frequency = | deaths = }} '''Hypoactive sexual desire disorder''' ('''HSDD'''), '''hyposexuality''', or '''inhibited sexual desire''' ('''ISD''') is sometimes considered a [[sexual dysfunction]], and is characterized as a lack or absence of [[sexual fantasies]] and [[sexual desire|desire for sexual activity]], as judged by a clinician. For this to be regarded as a disorder, it must cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulties and not be better accounted for by another mental disorder, a drug (legal or illegal), or some other medical condition. A person with HSDD will not start, or respond to their partner's desire for, sexual activity.<ref name="ummc">{{Cite web |title=Inhibited sexual desire |url=http://umm.edu/health/medical/ency/articles/inhibited-sexual-desire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701002450/http://umm.edu/health/medical/ency/articles/inhibited-sexual-desire |archive-date=2017-07-01 |access-date=2026-02-10 |website=University of Maryland Medical Center |language=en}}</ref> HSDD affects approximately 10% of all pre-[[menopause|menopausal]] women in the United States, or about 6 million women.<ref name="Frellick">{{cite web |last1=Frellick |first1=Marcia |title=FDA Approves New Libido-Boosting Drug for Premenopausal Women |url=https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/914779?nlid=130327_3901&src=wnl_newsalrt_190621_MSCPEDIT&uac=194606CT&impID=2003265&faf=1 |website=Medscape |publisher=WebMD LLC |access-date=22 June 2019}}</ref>
In the [[DSM-5]], HSDD was split into '''male hypoactive sexual desire disorder'''<ref name="DSM5male">{{cite book | title = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition | chapter = Male Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, 302.71 (F52.0) | editor = American Psychiatric Association | year = 2013| publisher = American Psychiatric Publishing | pages = 440–443}}</ref> and '''[[female sexual interest/arousal disorder]]'''.<ref name="DSM5female">{{cite book| title = Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition | chapter = Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder, 302.72 (F52.22) | editor = American Psychiatric Association | year = 2013 | publisher = American Psychiatric Publishing | pages = 433–437}}</ref> It was first included in the DSM-III under the name inhibited sexual desire disorder,<ref>{{cite book |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders |url=https://archive.org/details/diagnosticstatis00amer |url-access=registration |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |location=Washington DC |year=1980 |edition=3rd}}</ref> but the name was changed in the DSM-III-R. Other terms used to describe the phenomenon include sexual aversion and sexual apathy.<ref name="ummc" /> More informal or colloquial terms are ''frigidity'' and ''frigidness''.<ref>Munjack, Dennis, and Pamela Kanno. "An overview of outcome on frigidity: treatment effects and effectiveness." Comprehensive Psychiatry 17.3 (1976): 401-413.</ref>
==Causes== Low sexual desire alone is not equivalent to HSDD because of the requirement in HSDD that the low sexual desire causes marked distress and interpersonal difficulty and because of the requirement that the low desire is not better accounted for by another disorder in the DSM or by a general medical problem. It is therefore difficult to say exactly what causes HSDD. It is easier to describe, instead, some of the causes of low sexual desire.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
In men, though there are theoretically more types of HSDD/low sexual desire, typically men are only diagnosed with one of three subtypes.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} * Lifelong/generalized: The man has little or no desire for [[sexual stimulation]] (with a partner or alone) and never had. * Acquired/generalized: The man previously had sexual interest in his present partner, but lacks interest in sexual activity, partnered or solitary. * Acquired/situational: The man was previously sexually interested in his present partner but now lacks sexual interest in this partner but has desire for sexual stimulation (i.e. alone or with someone other than his present partner).
Though it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between these types, they do not necessarily have the same cause. The cause of lifelong/generalized HSDD is unknown. In the case of acquired/generalized low sexual desire, possible causes include various medical/health problems, psychiatric problems, low levels of [[testosterone]] or high levels of [[prolactin]]. One theory suggests that sexual desire is controlled by a balance between inhibitory and excitatory factors.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Janssen, E. |author2=Bancroft J. |chapter=The dual control model: The role of sexual inhibition & excitation in sexual arousal and behavior |editor=Janssen, E. |title=The Psychophysiology of Sex |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington IN |year=2006 }}</ref> This is thought to be expressed via neurotransmitters in selective brain areas. A decrease in sexual desire may therefore be due to an imbalance between neurotransmitters with excitatory activity like dopamine and norepinephrine and neurotransmitters with inhibitory activity, like [[serotonin]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Clayton AH |title=The pathophysiology of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women |journal=Int J Gynaecol Obstet |volume=110 |issue=1 |pages=7–11 |date=July 2010 |pmid=20434725 |doi=10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.02.014 |s2cid=29172936 }}</ref> Low sexual desire can also be a side effect of various medications. In the case of acquired/situational HSDD, possible causes include [[Fear of intimacy|intimacy difficulty]], [[Relational disorder|relationship problems]], [[sexual addiction]], and chronic illness of the man's partner. The evidence for these is somewhat in question. Some claimed causes of low sexual desire are based on empirical evidence. However, some are based merely on clinical observation.<ref name=Maurice07>{{cite book |author=Maurice, William |chapter=Sexual Desire Disorders in Men |editor=Leiblum, Sandra |title=Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy |publisher=The Guilford Press |location=New York |year=2007 |edition=4th }}</ref> In many cases, the cause of HSDD is simply unknown.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Balon, Richard |title=Toward an Improved Nosology of Sexual Dysfunction in DSM-V |journal=Psychiatric Times |volume=24 |issue=9 |year=2007 |url=http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/53716?pageNumber=1 |access-date=2008-06-19 |archive-date=2012-04-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402202808/http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/display/article/10168/53716?pageNumber=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Some factors are believed to be possible causes of HSDD in women. As with men, various medical problems, psychiatric problems (such as mood disorders), or increased amounts of prolactin can cause HSDD. Other hormones are believed to be involved as well.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} Additionally, factors such as relationship problems or stress are believed to be possible causes of reduced sexual desire in women. According to one recent study examining the affective responses and attentional capture of sexual stimuli in women with and without HSDD, women with HSDD do not appear to have a negative association to sexual stimuli, but rather a weaker positive association than women without HSDD.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Brauer M, van leeuwen M, Janssen E, Newhouse SK, Heiman JR, Laan E |title=Attentional and Affective Processing of Sexual Stimuli in Women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |date=September 2011 |doi=10.1007/s10508-011-9820-7|volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=891–905 |pmid=21892693|s2cid=20673697 |hdl=2066/103054 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
One study found a third of [[vaginoplasty|post-operation]] [[transgender women]] experience HSDD. No evidence was found that HSDD in transgender women is caused by a lack of free testosterone.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Elaut |first1=E. |last2=De Cuypere |first2=G. |last3=De Sutter |first3=P. |last4=Gijs |first4=L. |last5=Van Trotsenburg |first5=M. |last6=Heylens |first6=G. |last7=Kaufman |first7=J. M. |last8=Rubens |first8=R. |last9=t'Sjoen |first9=G. |date=May 4, 2008 |title=Hypoactive sexual desire in transsexual women: prevalence and association with testosterone levels |url=https://www.academia.edu/en/20905522/Hypoactive_sexual_desire_in_transsexual_women_prevalence_and_association_with_testosterone_levels |journal=European Journal of Endocrinology |volume=158 |issue=3 |pages=393–399 |doi=10.1530/EJE-07-0511 |pmid=18299474 |via=www.academia.edu |doi-access=free}}</ref> [[Progesterone (medication)|Progesterone]] has shown to alleviate some symptoms of HSDD in transgender women, as well as other [[Feminizing hormone therapy|hormone treatment]]s.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
==Diagnosis== In the [[DSM-5]], male hypoactive sexual desire disorder is characterized by "persistently or recurrently deficient (or absent) sexual/erotic thoughts or fantasies and desire for sexual activity", as judged by a clinician with consideration for the patient's age and cultural context.<ref name="DSM5male" /> Female sexual interest/arousal disorder is defined as a "lack of, or significantly reduced, sexual interest/arousal", manifesting as at least three of the following symptoms: no or little interest in sexual activity, no or few sexual thoughts, no or few attempts to initiate sexual activity or respond to partner's initiation, no or little sexual pleasure/excitement in 75–100% of sexual experiences, no or little sexual interest in internal or external erotic stimuli, and no or few genital/nongenital sensations in 75–100% of sexual experiences.<ref name="DSM5female" />
For both diagnoses, symptoms must persist for at least six months, cause clinically significant distress, and not be better explained by another condition. Simply having lower desire than one's partner is not sufficient for a diagnosis. Self-identification of a lifelong lack of sexual desire as asexuality precludes diagnosis.<ref name="DSM5male" /><ref name="DSM5female" />
==Treatment==
===Counseling=== HSDD, like many sexual dysfunctions, is something that people are treated for in the context of a relationship. Theoretically, one could be diagnosed with and treated for HSDD without being in a relationship. However, relationship status is the most predictive factor accounting for distress in women with low desire and distress is required for a diagnosis of HSDD.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Rosen RC, Shifren JL, Monz BU, Odom DM, Russo PA, Johannes CB |title=Correlates of sexually-related personal distress in women with low sexual desire |journal=Journal of Sexual Medicine |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=1549–1560 |date=June 2009 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01252.x|pmid=19473457 }}</ref> Therefore, it is common for both partners to be involved in therapy.
Typically, the therapist tries to find a psychological or biological cause of the HSDD. If the HSDD is organically caused, the clinician may try to treat it. If the clinician believes it is rooted in a psychological problem, he or she may recommend therapy. If not, treatment generally focuses more on relationship and communication issues, improved communication (verbal and nonverbal), [[sexual communication]], working on non-sexual intimacy, or education about sexuality may all be possible parts of treatment. Sometimes problems occur because people have unrealistic perceptions about what normal sexuality is and are concerned that they do not compare well to that, and this is one reason why education can be important. If the clinician thinks that part of the problem is a result of stress, techniques may be recommended to more effectively deal with that. Also, it can be important to understand why the low level of sexual desire is a problem for the relationship because the two partners may associate different meanings with sex but not know it.<ref name="Basson07">{{cite book |author=Basson, Rosemary |chapter=Sexual Desire/Arousal Disorders in Women |editor=Leiblum, Sandra |title=Principles and Practice of Sex Therapy |publisher=The Guilford Press |location=New York |year=2007 |edition=4th }}</ref>
In the case of men, the therapy may depend on the subtype of HSDD. Increasing the level of sexual desire of a man with lifelong/generalized HSDD is unlikely. Instead, the focus may be on helping the couple to adapt. In the case of acquired/generalized, it is likely that there is some biological reason the clinician can address. In the case of acquired/situational, some form of psychotherapy may be used, possibly with the man alone and possibly together with his partner.<ref name=Maurice07/>
===Medication=== {{See also|List of investigational sexual dysfunction drugs}}
====Approved==== [[Flibanserin]] was the first medication approved by [[FDA]] for the treatment of HSDD in pre-menopausal women. Its approval was controversial and a systematic review found its benefits to be marginal.<ref name=JAMA2016>{{cite journal |last1=Jaspers |first1=L |last2=Feys| first2=F| last3=Bramer| first3=WM |last4= Franco| first4= OH| last5= Leusink| first5= P| last6=Laan|first6=ET| display-authors= 3| title=Efficacy and Safety of Flibanserin for the Treatment of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.|journal=JAMA Internal Medicine|date=1 April 2016|volume=176|issue=4|pages=453–62|pmid=26927498|doi=10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.8565|doi-access=free}}</ref> The only other medication approved in the US for HSDD in pre-menopausal women is [[bremelanotide]], in 2019.<ref name="Frellick"/>
====Off-label==== [[Testosterone (medication)|Testosterone]] supplementation is effective in the short term.<ref name=Wie2014/> However, its long-term safety is unclear.<ref name=Wie2014>{{cite journal|last1=Wierman|first1=ME|last2=Arlt|first2=W|last3=Basson|first3=R|last4=Davis|first4=SR|last5=Miller|first5=KK|last6=Murad|first6=MH|last7=Rosner|first7=W|last8=Santoro|first8=N |display-authors= 3| title=Androgen therapy in women: a reappraisal: an endocrine society clinical practice guideline.|journal=The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism|date=Oct 2014|volume=99|issue=10|pages=3489–510|pmid=25279570|doi=10.1210/jc.2014-2260|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==History== The term ''frigid'' to describe sexual dysfunction derives from medieval and early modern canonical texts about witchcraft. It was thought that witches could put spells on men to make them incapable of erections.<ref>{{cite book| first1= Peter |last1= Cryle |first2= Alison |last2= Moore| title= Frigidity: An Intellectual History| place= Basingstoke| publisher= Palgrave Macmillan| year= 2011 |isbn= 978-0-230-30345-4}}</ref> Only in the early nineteenth century were women first described as "frigid", and a vast literature exists on what was considered a serious problem if a woman did not desire sex with her husband. Many medical texts between 1800 and 1930 focused on women's frigidity, considering it a sexual [[pathology]].<ref>{{cite journal| first1= Peter |last1= Cryle |first2= Alison |last2= Moore| title= Frigidity at the Fin-de-Siècle, a Slippery and Capacious Concept| journal= [[Journal of the History of Sexuality]]| volume= 19 |number= 2| date= May 2010 |pages= 243–61|doi= 10.1353/sex.0.0096 |pmid= 20617591 |s2cid= 40019141 }}</ref>
The French psychoanalyst [[Princess Marie Bonaparte]] theorized about frigidity and considered herself to have it.<ref>{{cite journal| first1= Alison| last1= Moore| title= Relocating Marie Bonaparte's Clitoris| journal = [[Australian Feminist Studies]]| volume= 24 |number= 60| date= April 2009| pages= 149–65| doi= 10.1080/08164640902852373| s2cid= 144885177| url= }}</ref> Additionally, in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-III), frigidity and impotence were cited as alternate nomenclatures for Inhibited Sexual Excitement.<ref>{{cite book |author=The American Psychiatric Association |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Third Edition|chapter= Psychosexual Disorders |publisher= American Psychiatric Press |location= Washington D.C. |year= 1980 |isbn= 978-0521315289 |pages= 278, 279] }}</ref>
In 1970, [[Masters and Johnson]] published their book ''Human Sexual Inadequacy''<ref>{{cite book |author1=Masters, William |author2=Johnson, Virginia |title=Human Sexual Inadequacy |url=https://archive.org/details/humansexualinade00will |url-access=registration |publisher=Little Brown |location=Boston |year=1970 |isbn=9780700001934 }}</ref> describing sexual dysfunctions, though these included only dysfunctions dealing with the function of genitals such as [[premature ejaculation]] and [[impotence]] for men, and [[anorgasmia]] and [[vaginismus]] for women. Prior to Masters and Johnson's research, [[female orgasm]] was assumed by some to originate primarily from vaginal, rather than clitoral, stimulation. Consequently, feminists have argued that "frigidity" was "defined by men as the failure of women to have vaginal orgasms".<ref>{{cite book |author=Koedt, A. |chapter= The myth of the vaginal orgasm |editor=Escoffier, J. |title=Sexual revolution |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |location=New York |year=1970 |isbn=978-1-56025-525-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781560255253/page/100 100–9] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781560255253/page/100 }}</ref>
Following this book, [[sex therapy]] increased throughout the 1970s. Reports from sex-therapists about people with low sexual desire are reported from at least 1972, but labeling this as a specific disorder did not occur until 1977.<ref>{{cite book |last=Irvine |first=Janice |title=Disorders of Desire |publisher=Temple University Press |location= Philadelphia |year=2005 |page=265 }}</ref> In that year, sex therapists [[Helen Singer Kaplan]] and Harold Lief independently of each other proposed creating a specific category for people with low or no sexual desire. Lief named it "inhibited sexual desire", and Kaplan named it "hypoactive sexual desire". The primary motivation for this was that previous models for sex therapy assumed certain levels of sexual interest in one's partner and that problems were only caused by abnormal functioning/non-functioning of the genitals or performance anxiety but that therapies based on those problems were ineffective for people who did not sexually desire their partner.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Helen Singer |title=The Sexual Desire Disorders |publisher=Taylor & Francis Group |location=New York |year=1995 |pages=1–2, 7 }}</ref> The following year, 1978, Lief and Kaplan together made a proposal to the APA's taskforce for sexual disorders for the DSM III, of which Kaplan and Lief were both members. The diagnosis of Inhibited Sexual Desire (ISD) was added to the DSM when the 3rd edition was published in 1980.<ref>{{harvnb|Kaplan|1995|pp=7–8}}</ref>
For understanding this diagnosis, it is important to recognize the social context in which it was created. In some cultures, low sexual desire may be considered normal, and high sexual desire conversely problematic. For example, sexual desire may be lower in East Asian populations than Euro-Canadian/American populations.<ref name="Brotto LA, Chik HM, Ryder AG, Gorzalka BB, Seal B 2005 613–626">{{cite journal |vauthors=Brotto LA, Chik HM, Ryder AG, Gorzalka BB, Seal B |title=Acculturation and sexual function in Asian women |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=34 |issue=6 |pages=613–626 |date=December 2005 |doi=10.1007/s10508-005-7909-6 |pmid=16362246 |s2cid=1950609 }}</ref> In other cultures, this may be reversed. Some cultures try hard to restrain sexual desire. Others try to excite it. Concepts of "normal" levels of sexual desire are culturally dependent and rarely value-neutral. In the 1970s, there were strong cultural messages that sex is good for you and "the more the better". Within this context, people who were habitually uninterested in sex, who in previous times may not have seen this as a problem, were more likely to feel that this was a situation that needed to be fixed. They may have felt alienated by dominant messages about sexuality and increasingly people went to sex-therapists complaining of low sexual desire. It was within this context that the diagnosis of ISD was created.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Leiblum, Sandra |author2=Rosen, Raymond |title=Sexual Desire Disorders |publisher=The Guilford Press |year=1988 |page=1 }}</ref>
In the revision of the DSM-III, published in 1987 (DSM-III-R), ISD was subdivided into two categories: Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder and Sexual Aversion Disorder (SAD).<ref>{{harvnb|Irvine|2005|p=172}}</ref> The former is a lack of interest in sex and the latter is a phobic aversion to sex. In addition to this subdivision, one reason for the change is that the committee involved in revising the psychosexual disorders for the DSM-III-R thought that the term "inhibited" suggests psychodynamic cause (i.e., that the conditions for sexual desire are present, but the person is, for some reason, inhibiting their own sexual interest). The term "hypoactive sexual desire" is more awkward, but more neutral with respect to the cause.<ref>{{cite book |author=Apfelbaum, Bernard |chapter=An Ego Analytic Perspective on Desire Disorders |editor1=Lieblum, Sandra |editor2=Rosen, Raymond |title=Sexual Desire Disorders |publisher=The Guilford Press |year=1988 }}</ref> The DSM-III-R estimated that about 20% of the population had HSDD.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title= Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder| encyclopedia= DSM-III-R| publisher= American Psychological Association | year= 1987| page= | isbn= }}</ref> In the DSM-IV (1994), the criterion that the diagnosis requires "marked distress or interpersonal difficulty" was added.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
The DSM-5, published in 2013, split HSDD into ''male hypoactive sexual desire disorder'' and ''female sexual interest/arousal disorder''. The distinction was made because men report more intense and frequent sexual desire than women.<ref name="DSM5male" /> According to [[Lori Brotto]], this classification is desirable compared to the DSM-IV classification system because: (1) it reflects the finding that desire and arousal tend to overlap (2) it differentiates between women who lack desire before the onset of activity, but who are receptive to initiation and or initiate sexual activity for reasons other than desire, and women who never experience sexual arousal (3) it takes the variability in sexual desire into account. Furthermore, the criterion that 6 symptoms be present for a diagnosis helps safeguard against pathologizing adaptive decreases in desire.<ref name="Brotto LA 2010 221–239">{{cite journal |author=Brotto LA |title=The DSM Diagnostic Criteria for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Women |journal= Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=221–239 |year=2010 |doi=10.1007/s10508-009-9543-1 |pmid=19777334|s2cid=207089661 }}</ref><ref name="Brotto LA 2010 2015–2030">{{cite journal |author=Brotto LA |title=The DSM Diagnostic Criteria for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Men |journal= The Journal of Sexual Medicine |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=2015–2030 |date=June 2010 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01860.x |pmid=20929517 }}</ref>
==Criticism== ===General=== HSDD, as currently defined by the DSM, has come under criticism of the social function of the diagnosis. * HSDD could be seen as part of a history of the medicalization of sexuality by the medical profession to define normal sexuality.<ref>{{harvnb|Irvine|2005|pp=175–6}}</ref> It has also been examined within a "broader frame of historical interest in the problematization of sexual appetite".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Flore|first1=Jacinthe|title=The problem of sexual imbalance and techniques of the self in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|journal=History of Psychiatry|date=2016|volume=27|issue=3|pages=320–335|doi=10.1177/0957154X16644391|pmid=27118809|s2cid=22230667}}</ref> * HSDD has been criticized over pathologizing normal variations in sexuality because the parameters of normality are unclear.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Flore| first1= Jacinthe |title= HSDD and asexuality: a question of instruments|journal=Psychology & Sexuality|date=2013|volume=4|issue=2|pages=152–166| doi= 10.1080/19419899.2013.774163| s2cid= 143534388 }}</ref> This lack of clarity is partly due to the fact that the terms "persistent" and "recurrent" do not have clear [[operational definition]]s.<ref name="Brotto LA, Chik HM, Ryder AG, Gorzalka BB, Seal B 2005 613–626"/> * HSDD may function to pathologize [[asexuality|asexuals]], though their lack of sexual desire may not be maladaptive.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Prause N, Graham CA |title= Asexuality: classification and characterization |journal=Arch Sex Behav |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=341–56 |date=June 2007 |pmid=17345167 |doi=10.1007/s10508-006-9142-3 |s2cid= 12034925 |url= http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/PDF/PrauseGraham.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081002184826/http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/publications/PDF/PrauseGraham.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-02 }}</ref> Because of this, some members of the asexual community lobbied the mental health community working on the [[DSM-5]] to distinguish hypoactive sexual desire as a disorder from asexuality as a sexual orientation.<ref>{{cite web| title= Asexuals Push for Greater Recognition| url= https://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=6656358&page=1| first= Dan | last= Childs| date= January 15, 2009| website= abcnews.go.com| publisher= [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] | access-date= January 11, 2022}}</ref>
Other criticisms focus more on scientific and clinical issues. * HSDD is such a diverse group of conditions with many causes that it functions as little more than a starting place for clinicians to assess people.<ref name=Bancroft01>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bancroft J, Graham CA, McCord C |title=Conceptualizing women's sexual problems |journal=J Sex Marital Ther |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=95–103 |year=2001 |pmid=11247236 |doi=10.1080/00926230152051716 |s2cid=27270983 }}</ref> * The requirement that low sexual desire causes distress or interpersonal difficulty has been criticized. It has been claimed that it is not clinically useful because if it is not causing any problems, the person will not seek out a clinician.<ref name=Bancroft01/> One could claim that this criterion (for all of the sexual dysfunctions, including HSDD) decreases the scientific validity of the diagnoses or is a cover-up for a lack of data on what constitutes normal sexual function.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Althof SE |title=My personal distress over the inclusion of personal distress |journal=J Sex Marital Ther |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=123–5 |year=2001 |pmid=11247205 |doi=10.1080/00926230152051761 |s2cid=34503285 }}</ref> * The distress requirement is also criticized because the term "distress" lacks a clear definition.<ref name="Bancroft J, Graham CA, McCord C 2001 95–103">{{cite journal |vauthors=Bancroft J, Graham CA, McCord C |title=Conceptualizing Women's Sexual Problems |journal=Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=95–103 |year=2001 |pmid=11247236 |doi=10.1080/00926230152051716 |s2cid=27270983 |url=http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/11247236/reload=0;jsessionid=KCiKJtVme61vM1EzfD2U.22 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718134814/http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/11247236/reload=0;jsessionid=KCiKJtVme61vM1EzfD2U.22 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2012 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Some critics of hypoactive sexual desire disorder have described it as [[Ego-dystonic sexual orientation|ego-dystonic]] [[asexuality]] in some cases, pointing out that it pathologizes a lack of sexual desire.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors= Margolin L |title=Why is absent/low sexual desire a mental disorder (except when patients identify as asexual)? |journal=[[Psychology & Sexuality]] |year=2023 |doi=10.1080/19419899.2023.2193575 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=720–733 |s2cid=257700590|doi-access=free }}</ref> An asexual person may experience distress due to [[allonormativity]], potentially meeting the distress condition for diagnosis.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors= Brotto L, Yule MA, Gorzalka B |title=Asexuality: An Extreme Variant of Sexual Desire Disorder? |journal=[[The Journal of Sexual Medicine]] |year=2015 |doi=10.1111/jsm.12806 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=646–660 |pmid=25545124 |s2cid=257700590}}</ref> Unnecessarily medicating asexual people for HSDD could be described as conversion therapy, so the individual needs to be prompted to examine the cause of their distress.<ref name="GEO">{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conversion-therapy-an-evidence-assessment-and-qualitative-study/conversion-therapy-an-evidence-assessment-and-qualitative-study#who-undergoes-conversion-therapy-and-why |title= Conversion therapy: an evidence assessment and qualitative study |access-date=14 January 2024 |year=2021|publisher=Government Equality Office}}</ref>
===NICE (UK) assessment=== Hypoactive sexual desire disorder is not recognized as a disorder by the [[National Institute for Health and Care Excellence]] for the British [[National Health Service]], with the judgement based on an article in the ''[[Journal of Medical Ethics]]'' that "Hypoactive sexual desire disorder is a typical example of a condition that was sponsored by industry to prepare the market for a specific treatment".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/document?id=1837880&returnUrl=search%3Fq%3Dlow%2Blibido&q=low+libido|publisher=National Institute for Health and Care Excellence|access-date=6 July 2021|title=Hypoactive sexual desire disorder: inventing a disease to sell low libido|date=30 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://jme.bmj.com/content/41/10/859|title=Hypoactive sexual desire disorder: inventing a disease to sell low libido|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics| access-date=6 July 2021|date=30 September 2015| volume=41 |issue=10| last1=Meixel |first1=Antonie| last2=Yanchar |first2= Elena| last3=Fugh-Berman| first3=Adriane|pages=859–862|doi=10.1136/medethics-2014-102596|pmid=26124287|s2cid=24775389|doi-access=free}}</ref>
===DSM-IV criteria=== Prior to the publication of the DSM-5, the DSM-IV criteria were criticized on several grounds. It was suggested that a duration criterion should be added because lack of interest in sex over the past month is significantly more common than lack of interest lasting six months.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Mitchell KR, Mercer CH |title=Prevalence of Low Sexual Desire among Women in Britain: Associated Factors |journal=The Journal of Sexual Medicine |volume=6 |issue=9 |pages=2434–2444 |date=September 2009 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2009.01368.x|pmid=19549088}}</ref> Similarly, a frequency criterion (i.e., the symptoms of low desire be present in 75% or more of sexual encounters) has been suggested.<ref name="Balon R 2008 186–97">{{cite journal |author=Balon R |title=The DSM Criteria of Sexual Dysfunction: Need for a Change |journal= Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=186–97 |year=2008 |pmid= 18398759 |doi=10.1080/00926230701866067 |s2cid=29366808 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Segraves R, Balon R, Clayton A |title=Proposal for Changes in Diagnostic Criteria for Sexual Dysfunctions |journal= Journal of Sexual Medicine |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=567–580 |year=2007 |doi=10.1111/j.1743-6109.2007.00455.x |pmid=17433086}}</ref>
The current framework for HSDD is based on a linear model of human sexual response, developed by [[Masters and Johnson]] and modified by Kaplan consisting of desire, arousal, orgasm. The sexual dysfunctions in the [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM]] are based around problems at any one or more of these stages.<ref name= Basson07/> Many of the criticisms of the DSM-IV framework for sexual dysfunction in general, and HSDD in particular, claimed that this model ignored the differences between male and female sexuality. Several criticisms were based on the inadequacy of the DSM-IV framework for dealing with females' sexual problems.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} * Increasingly, evidence shows that there are significant differences between male and female sexuality. Level of desire is highly variable from female to female and there are some females who are considered sexually functional who have no active desire for sex, but they can erotically respond well in contexts they find acceptable. This has been termed "responsive desire" as opposed to spontaneous desire.<ref name=Basson07/> * The focus on merely the physiological ignores the social, economic and political factors including sexual violence and lack of access to sexual medicine or education throughout the world affecting females and their sexual health.<ref name=Tiefer02>{{cite journal |vauthors=Tiefer L, Hall M, Tavris C |title=Beyond dysfunction: a new view of women's sexual problems |journal=J Sex Marital Ther |volume=28 |issue=Suppl 1|pages=225–32 |year=2002 |pmid=11898706 |doi=10.1080/00926230252851357 |s2cid=43844652 }}</ref> * The focus on the physiological ignores the relationship context of sexuality despite the fact that this is often the cause of sexual problems.<ref name=Tiefer02/> * The focus on discrepancy in desire between two partners may result in the partner with the lower level of desire being labeled as "dysfunctional," but the problem really sits with the difference between the two partners.<ref name="Bancroft J, Graham CA, McCord C 2001 95–103"/> However, within couples the assessment of desire tends to be relative. That is, individuals make judgments by comparing their levels of desire to that of their partner.<ref name="Balon R 2008 186–97"/> * The sexual problems that females complain of often do not fit well into the DSM-IV framework for sexual dysfunctions.<ref name=Tiefer02/> * The DSM-IV system of sub-typing may be more applicable to one sex than the other.<ref name=Maurice07/> * Research indicates a high degree of comorbidity between HSDD and [[female sexual arousal disorder]]. Therefore, a diagnosis combining the two (as the DSM-5 eventually did) might be more appropriate.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Graham, CA |title=The DSM Diagnostic Criteria for Female Sexual Arousal Disorder |journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=240–255 |date=September 2010 |doi=10.1007/s10508-009-9535-1 |pmid=19777335|s2cid=39028930 |url=http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/4764 }}</ref>
==See also== <!-- Please respect alphabetical order --> * [[Drugs and sexual desire]] * [[Hypersexuality]] * [[Sexual anhedonia]] * [[Sexual anorexia]] * [[Sexual arousal disorder]] * [[Sexual communication]] * [[Sex education]] * [[Sex therapy]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book| first1= Peter |last1= Cryle |first2= Alison |last2= Moore| title= Frigidity: An Intellectual History| place= Basingstoke| publisher= Palgrave Macmillan| year= 2011 |isbn= 978-0-230-30345-4}} * {{cite journal| first1= Peter |last1= Cryle |first2= Alison |last2= Moore| title= Frigidity at the Fin-de-Siècle, a Slippery and Capacious Concept| journal= [[Journal of the History of Sexuality]]| volume= 19 |number= 2| date= May 2010 |pages= 243–61|doi= 10.1353/sex.0.0096 |pmid= 20617591 |s2cid= 40019141 }} * {{cite journal| first= Alison |last= Moore| title= Frigidity, Gender and Power in French Cultural History – From Jean Fauconney to Marie Bonaparte| journal= [[French Cultural Studies]]| volume= 20 | number= 4| date= November 2009| pages= 331–49|doi= 10.1177/0957155809344155|s2cid= 145773398}} * {{cite journal| first= Alison |last= Moore| title= The Invention of the Unsexual: Situating Frigidity in the History of Sexuality and in Feminist Thought| journal= [[French History and Civilization]] |volume= 2 | year= 2009| pages= 181–92}} * {{cite journal |last=Montgomery |first=KA |title=Sexual Desire Disorders |journal= Psychiatry (Edgmont) |date=Jun 2008 |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=50–55 |pmc=2695750 |pmid= 19727285}} * {{cite journal |last1=Basson |first1=R |last2=Leiblum |first2=S |last3=Brotto |first3=L |last4=Derogatis |first4=L |last5=Fourcroy |first5=J |last6=Fugl-Meyer |first6=K |last7=Graziottin |first7=A |last8=Heiman |first8=JR |last9=Laan |first9=E |last10=Meston |first10=C |last11=Schover |first11=L |last12=van Lankveld |first12=J |last13=Schultz |first13=WW | display-authors= 3 |title=Definitions of women's sexual dysfunction reconsidered: advocating expansion and revision. |journal= [[Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology]] |date=December 2003 |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=221–9 |pmid=14702882 |doi=10.3109/01674820309074686|s2cid=4780569 }} * {{cite journal |last=Warnock |first=JJ |title=Female hypoactive sexual desire disorder: epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment. |journal= [[CNS Drugs]] |year=2002 |volume=16 |issue=11 |pages=745–53 |pmid=12383030 |doi=10.2165/00023210-200216110-00003|s2cid=24669452 }} * {{cite journal |last=Basson |first=R |title=Women's sexual dysfunction: revised and expanded definitions |journal= [[Canadian Medical Association Journal]]| publisher= [[Canadian Medical Association]] |date=10 May 2005 |volume=172 |issue=10 |pages=1327–1333 |doi=10.1503/cmaj.1020174 |pmc=557105 |pmid=15883409}} * {{cite journal |last=Nappi |first=RE |author2=Wawra, K |author3=Schmitt, S |title=Hypoactive sexual desire disorder in postmenopausal women. |journal= [[Gynecological Endocrinology]] |date=Jun 2006 |volume=22 |issue=6 |pages=318–23 |pmid=16785156 |doi=10.1080/09513590600762265|s2cid=24526712 }}
== External links == {{Commons}} {{Medical resources | DiseasesDB = | ICD11 = {{ICD11|HA00}} | ICD10 = {{ICD10|F|52|0|f|50}} | ICD9 = {{ICD9|302.71}} | ICDO = | OMIM = | MedlinePlus = 001952 | eMedicineSubj = | eMedicineTopic = | MeshID = D020018 | SNOMED CT = 112096004 }} {{Mental and behavioral disorders|selected = physical}} {{Sex}} {{Human sexuality}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Sexual dysfunctions]] [[Category:Asexuality]] [[Category:Non-sexuality]]