Katana VentraIP

Sexual desire

Sexual desire is an emotion[1][2] and motivational state characterized by an interest in sexual objects or activities, or by a drive to seek out sexual objects or to engage in sexual activities.[3] It is an aspect of sexuality, which varies significantly from one person to another and also fluctuates depending on circumstances.

It may be the single most common sexual event in human life.[3]


Sexual desire is a subjective feeling state that can be triggered by both internal and external cues, and that may or may not result in overt sexual behaviour.[4] Desire can be aroused through imagination and sexual fantasies, or by perceiving an individual whom one finds attractive.[5] It is also created and amplified through sexual tension, which is caused by sexual desire that has yet to be acted on. Physical manifestations of sexual desire in humans include licking, sucking, tongue protrusion, and puckering and touching the lips.[6]


Desire can be spontaneous or responsive,[7] positive or negative, and can vary in intensity along a spectrum.

Drive: The biological component. This includes and neuroendocrinology.

anatomy

Motivation: The psychological component. This includes personal mental states (mood), interpersonal states (e.g., mutual affection or disagreement), and social context (e.g., relationship status).

Wish: The cultural component. This includes cultural ideals, values, and rules about sexual expression that are external to the individual.

Measuring and assessing[edit]

Defining sexual desire is a challenge because it can be conceptualized in many ways. Researchers consider the definition used in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV-TR (DSM-IV-TR), as well as what men and women understand their own desire to be.[25] The lack of agreed-upon parameters for normal versus abnormal levels of sexual desire[4] creates challenges in the measurement of desire and the diagnosis of sexual desire disorders.


Many researchers seek to assess sexual desire by examining self-reported data and observing the frequency of participants' sexual behaviour.[26] This method can pose a problem because it emphasizes only the behavioural aspects of sexual desire and does not account for cognitive or biological influences that motivate people to seek out and become receptive to sexual opportunities.[26]


Several scales have been developed to measure the factors influencing the development and expression of sexual desire. One is the Sexual Desire Inventory (SDI), a self-administered questionnaire that defines sexual desire as "interest in or wish for sexual activity".[26] The SDI measures thoughts and experiences. Fourteen questions assess the strength, frequency, and importance of an individual's desire for sexual activity with others and by themselves. The scale proposes that desire can be split into two categories: dyadic and solitary desire. Dyadic desire refers to an "interest in or a wish to engage in sexual activity with another person and desire for sharing and intimacy with another", while solitary desire refers to "an interest in engaging in sexual behaviour by oneself, and may involve a wish to refrain from intimacy and sharing with others".[26]


The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory-Female (SIDI-F) was the first validated instrument developed to specifically assess the severity of hypoactive sexual desire disorder and responses to treatment for the disorder in females.[27][28] The SIDI-F consists of thirteen items that assess a woman's satisfaction with her relationship; her recent sexual experiences, both with her partner and alone; her enthusiasm for, desire for, and receptivity to sexual behaviour; distress over her level of desire; and arousal. The scale has a maximum score of 51, with higher scores representing increased levels of sexual functioning.[28]

(HSDD) is defined as persistently or recurrently deficient (or absent) sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity which causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.[29] This definition has been criticized for placing too much emphasis on sexual fantasies, which are usually used to supplement arousal.[25] As a result, a group of sexuality researchers and clinicians have proposed the addition of sexual desire/interest disorder (SDID) to the DSM in hopes that it may more accurately encompass concerns experienced by women in particular.[30] SDID is defined as low sexual desire, absent sexual fantasies, and a lack of responsive desire.[31]

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder

(SAD) is defined as persistent or recurrent, extreme aversion to and avoidance of all or almost all genital sexual contact with a sexual partner.[29] SAD is considered more severe than HSDD. Some have questioned its placement within the sexual dysfunction category of the DSM and have called for it to be moved to the specific phobia grouping as an anxiety disorder.[32]

Sexual aversion disorder