Better known as Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), the inhibited sexual desire may prove to be a disaster for your sex life. Listed under the Sexual and Gender Identity disorder of the DSM-IV, it may mean a general lack of sexual desire, lack of sexual desire for current partner, a situational lack of any sexual desire or a permanent lack of sexual desire in a man. Even after so many researches to find the causes of HSDD, it is difficult to determine them exactly. However, some of the causes of HSDD or low sexual desire can be categorized as follows:
- Lifelong/generalized: If it’s the case, the affected man has little or no desire for sexual stimulation (with a partner or alone).
- Acquired/situational: The man was previously sexually interested in his present partner but now lacks sexual interest in her; however, the desire for sexual stimulation (i.e. alone or with someone other than his present partner) is still there.
- Acquired/generalized: The man previously had sexual interest in his present partner, but now lacks interest in any kind of sexual activity – be it partnered or solitary.
The exact cause of the generalized or lifelong HSDD is unknown. The acquired/generalized HSDD may have various medical or health problems, psychiatric problem, low levels of testosterone or higher levels of prolactin as its probable reasons. The acquired/situational HSDD is generally attributable to lack of sexual intimacy, problems in your relationship, sexual addiction or the chronic illness in the partner. Some of the causes of low sex desire are based on the empirical evidences, while some are based on the clinical trials.
Though HSDD can be treated even if you are not in relationship, but if you are in a relationship it is necessary that both of you should undergo the treatment therapy. Normally, the therapist tries to find out the psychological or biological causes of the low sex desire among the partners. If the therapist finds it is because of any psychological problem then he recommends a therapy for it, if not then he asks to improve the communication level in partners. In a man’s case, the therapy may depend on the subtype of the HSDD. As said earlier, treating the generalized/lifelong HSDD is not possible as we cannot increase sexual desires in patients suffering with this problem. In the case of acquired/generalized, it is likely that there is some biological reason for it and the clinician may attempt to deal with that. In the case of acquired/situational, some form of psychotherapy may be used, possibly with the man alone and possibly together with his partner.