Post-Coital Dysphoria in Men! Study Shows Quite a Few Men Experience Sadness After Orgasm
PCD is defined as ‘inexplicable feelings of tearfulness, sadness or irritability following satisfying consensual sexual activity’.
Sex can be quite confusing for some. The confusing phase begins right after an orgasm ends and some people feel quite terrible. The feeling of sadness that immediately follows an orgasm is known among psychologists as ‘post-coital dysphoria’. The condition has been studied only in women in the past, but a new study published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy suggests the phenomenon may be quite common in men too. Scientists and authors from Queensland University of Technology in Australia note that this is the first study to assess PCD among males and there is no prior research to compare the present results.
PCD is defined as ‘inexplicable feelings of tearfulness, sadness or irritability following satisfying consensual sexual activity’. Lead author and psychology professor Robert D Schweitzer at Queensland University in Brisbane studied self-reported data on the sex lives of 1,208 international men and found that men experience PCD as well. It is often perceived as that men always feel good after sex, which may not always be the case. This study will help psychologists better address men’s sexual issues and open the discourse on the subject that has been overlooked for too long.
The questionnaires were completed by men, aged 18 to 81 years from 78 countries. The questions included about occurrence of PCD over one’s lifetime and in the past four weeks specifically, as well as questions for gauging recent psychological distress, past abuse. In total 41% of males had experienced PCD in their lifetime, 36.6% reported experiencing PCD intermittently and 4.4% said that experience PCD most or all the time. Overall, these frequencies are all still lower than those reported for women, but they’re still substantial enough not to ignore.
An analysis revealed that the recent occurrence of PCD was most closely associated with current psychological distress, followed by recent low sex drive, delayed ejaculation and premature ejaculation. Childhood sexual abuse showed a weak link in men, while studies in women have implied a strong association between the phenomenon and that type of trauma.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 03, 2018 10:26 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).