On and on goes the debate about whether or not Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) can be addressed as a physiological disorder. According to recent experimentation carried out in the US, certain areas of the brain that normally light up when thinking about sex fail to do so in women who have low levels of sexual desire.
10 pre-menopausal women with a clinical diagnosis of HSDD participated in the experiment along with 7 who were deemed as having a normal sexual function. The women were watched as they looked at a television for 30 minutes where images alternated between a blank blue screen, everyday programmes and erotic videos every minute. Their brain activity was monitored using MRI to pick up which parts of the brain were stimulated by blood flow at certain points of observation.
Between those who experienced a normal sexual function and those who were clinically diagnosed with HSDD the blood flow in the brain seemed to suggest opposite responses at certain points. It is not at all clear what these findings mean but the fact that there were distinct differences between the responses of the two groups does seem to indicate that there is cause to suspect that HSDD may have a physiological root rather than a psychological one.
The sample size was very small but the findings definitely suggest that this is an attractive area for research. It is absolutely clear from surveys that some women suffer from low libido and this causes them distress. Whether the low libido is symptomatic of another condition or a condition in its own right has not been demonstrated to any meaningful degree but it is very difficult to tell a woman that it is all in her head when she is clearly upset at not being able to have a sexually fulfilling relationship.
The UK National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles reports that 15.6 per cent of women suffer continual sexual problems for 6 months or more.