Do you get depressed or feel anxious or agitated post-sex? You are not alone. According to researchers, some women do suffer from postcoital dysphoria (PCD) or “post-sex blues.”
This condition is characterised by tearfulness, a sense of
melancholy or depression, anxiety, agitation, or aggression following sexual
intercourse.
Do you get depressed or feel anxious
or agitated post-sex? You are not alone. According to researchers, some women
do suffer from postcoital dysphoria (PCD) or “post-sex blues.”
For the study, 230 female university students completed an
online survey.
Nearly 46 percent of the respondents reported experiencing PCD
symptoms at least once in their lifetime.
Over five per cent experienced PCD symptoms a few times within
the past four weeks.
There appeared to be no relationship between PCD and intimacy in
close relationships.
“The findings build upon our previous research investigating the
correlates of sexual functioning in women,” said lead researcher Dr Robert
Schweitzer.
“The results of our original research in this area have now been
confirmed in an international multinational study on negative postcoital
emotions, which appear to have evolutionary functions,” Dr Schweitzer noted in
a paper that appeared in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
According to a recent Australian study published in the
International Journal of Sexual Health, one-third of women said they felt
depressed even after satisfactory sex.
The researchers theorised that hormonal shifts after orgasm –
the same changes that sometimes trigger post-sex headaches – could be to blame.
