Sexual dysfunction cannot exist without sexual function - female trait or threat to the male
I do sincerely agree, that we have to watch out for sexuality
becoming as exploited by the pharmaceutical industry like by the
rest of the industrial interests already invested in sex-related
creation of brands for almost anything.
But many of the reactions I hear when beginning to work clinically
with women's sexual health - in a supposedly enlightened country
like Sweden, make me think that too many people don't really think
women own a sexuality of their own.
Quite some of my patients have met more than one MD that have
the idea that women are either frigid (yes in 2002, that term still
lives) or have the wrong man.
In some of those there are underlying physical problems. Pills
cannot treat most of those.
But to give proper advice, one needs to know the nature of the
problem. That includes physical, psychological and social issues.
Our knowledge is at a fearfully low level, and thus many women
with physical problems have the resulting disorder in sexual
function being explained by an unhappy childhood and similar.
Focus may be taken on working with the unhappy childhood in
therapy, not even thinking there might be a physical component.
Because of this we are in desperate need to understand more
about women's sexuality and sexual functions, and dysfunctions.
To free ourselves from the lingering attitude that women do not
really have a sexuality of their own, and that women's sexuality is
best controlled by men - there is a need of open discussions, that
have to be truly multidisciplinary, like the way these discussions
have started up the International Society for the Study of Women's
Sexual Health (ISSWSH). All disciplines are represented there,
and each one's voice and opinion is important.
It is strange though, that all the objective work that has been done
in this field that does not have pharmaceutical industry interests
involved has drawn so little attention. Maybe this kind of attention
is exactly what we need - unfortunately the intended target - the
pharmaceutical industry - will also gain from this attention.
So, please, let us see more open conversations, not so much
debate. We need all knowledge we can get, because the problem
is just as big as it is said to be.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests:
No competing interests
04 January 2003
Bjorn Lundquist
Private practitioner, specialist in Urology, Andrology and Sexual Medicine
Elisabeth Lundquist, RCNM
Center for Sexual Medicine, Klostergatan 9, SE22222 LUND, Sweden
Rapid Response:
Sexual dysfunction cannot exist without sexual function - female trait or threat to the male
I do sincerely agree, that we have to watch out for sexuality
becoming as exploited by the pharmaceutical industry like by the
rest of the industrial interests already invested in sex-related
creation of brands for almost anything.
But many of the reactions I hear when beginning to work clinically
with women's sexual health - in a supposedly enlightened country
like Sweden, make me think that too many people don't really think
women own a sexuality of their own.
Quite some of my patients have met more than one MD that have
the idea that women are either frigid (yes in 2002, that term still
lives) or have the wrong man.
In some of those there are underlying physical problems. Pills
cannot treat most of those.
But to give proper advice, one needs to know the nature of the
problem. That includes physical, psychological and social issues.
Our knowledge is at a fearfully low level, and thus many women
with physical problems have the resulting disorder in sexual
function being explained by an unhappy childhood and similar.
Focus may be taken on working with the unhappy childhood in
therapy, not even thinking there might be a physical component.
Because of this we are in desperate need to understand more
about women's sexuality and sexual functions, and dysfunctions.
To free ourselves from the lingering attitude that women do not
really have a sexuality of their own, and that women's sexuality is
best controlled by men - there is a need of open discussions, that
have to be truly multidisciplinary, like the way these discussions
have started up the International Society for the Study of Women's
Sexual Health (ISSWSH). All disciplines are represented there,
and each one's voice and opinion is important.
It is strange though, that all the objective work that has been done
in this field that does not have pharmaceutical industry interests
involved has drawn so little attention. Maybe this kind of attention
is exactly what we need - unfortunately the intended target - the
pharmaceutical industry - will also gain from this attention.
So, please, let us see more open conversations, not so much
debate. We need all knowledge we can get, because the problem
is just as big as it is said to be.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests