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Anytime one thinks they can apply a universal truth to humanity, it is bound to be contradicted. For example, pain and suffering is believed to be negative because they are not pleasurable. Enter the psychosexual disorder known as masochism. Sexual masochism has long captured the imaginations of psychologists and the curious. Sexual masochism is the active seeking for pain and suffering for purposes of sexual gratification. Coming in many forms, Masochism is so common that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Edition IV – the manual published by the American Psychiatric Association covering all mental health disorders– categorizes it as being a psychosexual disorder. According to the DSM, there are three important symptoms to be diagnosed as suffering from the psychosexual disorder: First, the need for sexual punishment has to have been recurring for at least six months. Second, the motive for this behavior is in achieving sexual arousal. Third, these sexual urges and behaviors begin to figure so prominently into the psyche of those who suffer from it that it impairs basic social functions. Sexual masochism may contradict every rational conclusion we’ve drawn on pain and pleasure, of love and hate: but, then, why is this submissive and pain-seeking source of pleasure so eternal and common?
Though it appears it many forms, masochism commonly include the use of accessories, such as handcuffs, cages, chains, and ropes. Other acts and masochistic perversions include spanking, whipping, burning, and more extreme forms include beatings and electrical shocks. Sexual masochism is, by the standards of the DSM, a disorder of the mentally ill. But, understanding sexual masochism from that perspective allows a large part of the equation to be disregarded simply because masochism contradicts our basic understandings of sexuality. After all, is love not inextricably intertwined with pleasure rather than pain?
 Masochism psychosexual disorder Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing was an Austro-German sexologist who was among the first to explore case studies of sexual perversions in his 1886 text, Psychopathia Sexualis. Before Sigmund Freud released his theories on sexual perversions and psychosexual disorders, this text behaved as the definitive authority on sexual subjects that were highly taboo when published, such as homosexuality, female orgasm, and masochism. “By masochism,” he wrote, “I understand a peculiar perversion of the physical sexual life in which the individual is affected, in sexual feeling and thought, is controlled by the idea of being completely and unconditionally subject to the will of a person of the opposite sex.” Krafft-Ebing gave this absolute submissiveness the name of ‘masochism’ after famed writer, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch whose imagery of females dressed in fur holding whips in his book Venus in Fur became
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Tags: masochism low self esteem, mental health disorders–, sexually submissive women, sexual punishment, Freud, psychosexual development, pleasure from pain disorder
“The perfect counterpart to masochism is sadism,” wrote Austro-German sexologist Richard Freiherr von Krafft-Ebing in his 1886 text Psychopathia Sexualis. “While in the former there is a desire to suffer and be subjected to violence, in the latter the wish is to inflict pain and use of violence.” When Krafft-Ebing wrote of sexual perversions in his analysis, many of these perversions and sexual dysfunctions had been long around, but they were rarely viewed as psychological disorders. Sadism was a concept that was discussed, but given almost mythical status: Tales of Vlad the Impaler’s sadistic methods of torturing and killing inspired Bam Stroker to base the iconic Count Dracula character on elevating him to become a household sadist around the world. It was Richard von Krafft-Ebing that coined the term sadists to provide medical credibility to describe people that were aroused over the prospect of sexually, violently, or psychologically dominating a submissive subject. The etymology of the word sadism is derived from the French author, Marquis de Sade whose political beliefs of freedom unrestrained by morality or law was illustrated in abundance in the sexual perversions described in his novels. Indeed, these sexual perversions were so pornographic that he was incarcerated into various prisons and mental asylums over 32 years. Understanding how sadistic personalities worked became a key focus for psychologists following Krafft-Ebing’s initial analysis.
 Sadism as a psychosexual disorder At the most basic level, psychosexual disorders are disturbances in sexual function due to psychological problems. Contemporary psychology has subcategorized psychosexual disorders into three of its most common forms: sexual dysfunctions, gender identity disorders, and sexual perversions. They are not all mutually independent from one another. In fact, sadism often manifests itself in
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Tags: signs of sadism, important influence krafft-ebing, sigmund freud sadism, psycho sexual sadist, sadism case studies, psychosexual perversion, psychology of sadism
In a world that dwells on its differences over its similarities, virilization offers a thought provoking and perplexing backlash to humanity’s attempts to focus on the menial differences. History is replete with cultures and societies finding new and inventive ways to create schisms between one another as a means to affirm their own uniqueness in the world, whether it is through race, religion, wealth, or among endless micro differences. However, no difference is as natural and ancient as that between the genders. Removing all the gender stereotypes various cultures have assigned to the individual sexes, the light shines on the real differences between the genders. Since the beginning of time, the development of most species has depended on the coming together of the two sexes which fulfills the basic biological bottom line of reproducing and having offspring. Physiologically and biologically, the shape and anatomy size differences between males and females are not opinions of equality and societal roles to be debated, but rather tangible and measurable. As civilization has grown comfortable with gender roles and differences, however, virilization offers a stark counterpoint to even these most basic truths of the inherent physical differences of men and women.
 The influence of Virilization on masculinization In biology and medicine, virilization refers to the biological development of the sex differences between the two sexes. It is synonymous with the masculinization of the body, which begins at the prenatal sexual differentiation and is reinforced at any period when
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Tags: prenatal, Health Medical Pharma, masculinization of women testosterone voice, psychosexua, Polycystic ovary syndrome, Virilization, psychosexual
The offenses of sex offenders are represented by a heterogeneous population. Serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmers represent an extreme form of sex offenders by committing acts of necrophilia, cannibalism, torture, and murder for the purpose of sexual gratification. Other forms of illegal offenses and sex crime in sex offenders can include sexual abuse, downloading child pornography, or statutory rape. The motivation for sex offenders, their offenses, and their sex crime is not uniform either, and the origins of their perversions are not always straightforward. This is because society’s conception of sexuality remains clouded in ambiguity. “Sexual deviances generally arise from sexual fantasies,” writes former FBI profiler Robert R. Hazelwood in his book Practical Aspects of Rape Investigation. “Through a gradual process of enactment, they also become the template for many offenders’ patterns of serial sexual offenses.” Though the boundaries concerning what constitutes a “sex offender” is dependent on country and culture, there is little dispute about the influence psychosexual disorders play in dictating certain sexual behaviors and, as a result, sex crimes.
 Psychosexual disorders among Sex offenders Contemporary psychology subcategorizes psychosexual disorders into three parts: sexual dysfunctions, sexual perversions, and gender identity disorders. The most prevalent motivation for the offenses of sex offenders involves the cultivation of sexual perversions. Sexual perversions involve projecting strong sexual desires towards an unusual situations or objects. However, it is also true that
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Tags: therapy, common paraphilic disorders, Federal Bureau of Investigation, psychosexual disorde, sexual crimes
During the 1960s, America experienced a dramatic shift in traditional values related to psychological views on sexuality. With profound societal change occurring with the Civil rights movement and the baby boom generation, the first modern era of open sexuality in America challenged established sexual norms. The height of the sexual revolution was accompanied by massive physiological and psychological breakthroughs: The advent of the birth control pill shook the traditional expectations and understanding of female sexuality. Coinciding with the sexual revolution was renewed focus in psychology dedicated towards sexuality in America, typified by the works of Alfred Kinsey, William Masters, Virginia Johnson among many others. Yet, the story of sexuality and psychosexual dysfunctions in America is not without its challenges, particularly when socioeconomic circumstances are focused on.
 Psychosexual dysfunctions in the USA A study in 2008 by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health and rights think-tank, reported that 1.2 million abortions occur in America every year. This public health and moral dilemma is only recently being understood from the context of poverty, ethnicity, the inadequacy of current health services, and, most importantly, the psychological impact of all these factors. The patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of
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Tags: baby boom generation, American religious institutions, Psychosexual Disorders, psychological, female sexual
Vladimir Illyich Lenin, the father of the Communist Revolution in Russia, argued that in order for humanity to rise from its lethargy and vile class-based exploitation, our aesthetic and sexual pleasures that made us lack the ruthlessness needed to destroy the bourgeois order would need to be sacrificed. Revolutionary vigilance required that we reshape our nature to become something better. The mantra of Leninists of Russia confirmed their belief that insatiable sexual drive was in the nature of humans. To Lenin, sexuality was a detriment that was hindering the progress of society. Only through straightjacketing our sexual urges could a more selfless person be conceived that was no longer a slave to both capitalism and sexual passions. The idea of disciplining sexual urges as a means to become a ìbetterî person was not new in civilization. The Samurai warriors lived by the code of self-restraint from sexuality with the intent that control of necessary urges symbolized extra human will and dignity. However, repressive Leninist approach to taming sexuality was different than the voluntary admission into sexual abstinence to cultivate your honor. As hindsight has demonstrated, communist theory was never rooted in pragmatism. Communist society institutionalized a repressive silence on sex. It was in government policy that sexual urges could be marginalized through manual labor and elevating a spirit of the community over the self. Suffice to say, many psychosexual dysfunctions and disorders suffered by contemporary Russians are traced back to such repressive and ignorant policies.
 Psychosexual dysfunctions in Russia In his 1995 book The Sexual Revolution in Russia, Igor Kon categorized the communist policy in Russia into four parts: First, from the wake of the Russian Revolution in 1917 to the early Stalinist years, the main characteristic of communist policy towards sexuality concerned the disintegration of the family and the establishment of full legal and social gender equality for women. However, this policy became more difficult for the state to control than
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Tags: psychosexua, major russian cities, russian revolution in 1917, Sexual, Russian sexual values, Russians repressive sexuality, communist revolution in russia
Concerning his secular legacy, the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Atatürk once wrote: “I am not leaving a spiritual legacy of dogmas, unchangeable petrified directives. If those people who wish to follow me after I am gone take the reason and science as their guides they will be my true spiritual heirs.” A secular republic as stipulated by its Constitution in a predominantly Muslim country, social change in Turkey in the form of technological innovation or cultural diffusion have always been viewed in terms of reconciling the devout secular nature of the state with the Muslim beliefs of its people. The story of Turkish political society reveals much about the sexual behaviors of Turkish: caught somewhere between the Western attitudes towards sexuality and an Islamic interpretation of it. The Turkish cultural mosaic is rooted in multiple value systems which are reflected in their diverse attitudes and views on psychosexual dysfunctions.
 The Psychosexual sweet dysfunctions in Turkey Psychosexual dysfunctions are defined as disturbances of sexual functioning caused by mental and emotional difficulties. Psychosexual dysfunctions in Turkey are extensions of the cultural, economic, and political conflicts between value systems that are seen to be perpetually antagonistic towards one another. On a political front, this is most apparent. In 1998, the Turkish Welfare Party, which was sympathetic towards the implementation of Islamic Law, was shut down on the grounds of violating constitutional obligations to respect Turkey’s strict secular principles. Even the current Prime Minister,
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Tags: prevalent psychosexual dysfunctions, Rape, strict secular principles, forced, Dysfunctions
The conservative attitudes of the Filipino people towards sexuality are rooted in many factors, from its colonial history, its religious institutions, and its unstable governments. As in many other places across the world, many sexual taboos in the Philippines are rapidly melting due to increasing accessibility of mass media and the new ideas that it cultivates, particularly from Western influences. It is only appropriate that psychosexual health of Filipinos is yet again being transformed by foreign influences given its history has been largely characterized by interference. Traditional sexual views in Filipinos are strongly influenced by centuries of influence by Islamic culture, Chinese migrants, Spanish Catholic values, and today the tremendous American and Western influence that accompanies the process of globalization. For better or for worse, all of these cultures contributed in molding the collective attitudes of the Filipino population in establishing their attitudes to sexuality. The psychosexual dysfunctions suffered in the Philippines even today reveal much about its people through the lens of culture, religion, and history.
 Psychosexual dysfunctions in The Philippines Religion holds a central place in the life of the majority of Filipinos. Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and the Bah·’Ì Faith have all been introduced and are practiced in the Philippines. However, missionary activity during the Philippineís colonial rule by Spain and the United States transformed the Philippines into a predominantly Christian nation. Today, 90% of Filipinos belong to the Christian faith, with 81% belonging to Roman Catholicism. The Roman Catholic Church exercises great influence on the Filipino political and social landscape. For example, concerning abortion laws in the Philippines, the current criminal code penalizes with
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Tags: latest article about psychosexual disorder in philippines in 2011, psychosexual, process of globalization, new current issues in clinical psychology in philippines, sexual taboos in philippines, faith conflicts in cultural attitudes
Japan’s declining birth rate is among the biggest concerns for modern Japanese. Expected to lose 21% of its population by 2050, the economic, political, and social implications of this population collapse is potentially massive for Japan. Why is the population of the country with the second largest economy in the world suffering? Among the reasons blamed is the lack of governmental investment in child rearing programs, a more unstable economic environment with the rise of other Asian economies, and shifting roles for females in modern Japanese society. But there is something that reveals much more about sexuality and attitudes towards sex in Japan. Experts fear Japan is on the verge of a demographic disaster because of sexless marriages. The psychosexual dysfunctions suffered by Japanese that contribute to the sexless marriages have always been regulated by the moral codes of society. Their fundamental attitude towards sexuality and sexless mentality that has been ingrained into Japanese collective thought over centuryís time.
 Psychosexual dysfunctions in Japan It is impossible to discern current Japanese psychosexual health from its cultural evolution. When people discuss Japanese history, there is an immediate gravitation towards the Samurai ruling period, or the rise of the Japanese soldier class. When discussing psychosexual dysfunctions in Japan, that is not a bad place to start. Influenced by Confucius beliefs, the Samurai warriors lived by the code of self-restraint, behavioral control, and moral ethics. As a result, adults and children of this class rejected sexuality as an expression of human passions. For Samurais, it was a challenge of strength to be something more than common and self-control of the certain bodily fluids symbolized extra human will and dignity. Most Japanese did not practice such sexual self-restraint. But, in the hierarchical and
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Tags: sexin japan, japanes school girl, particular japanese context, school sex in japan, Japanese psychosexual dysfunctions, japan school sex
The story of Italian society reconciling its history and values with psychosexual dysfunctions that are antithetical to its honorable reputation is most fascinating. In 1970, Academy Award winning director Bernardo Bertolucci directed The Conformist. The film deals with Marcello Clerici, an Italian whose homosexuality creates a pathological obsession to be vindicated by overzealously supporting the supposed tradition and order represented by the fascist movement of Mussolini. Many Italians flatter themselves by considering their land as the cradle of not just European culture, but of the rest of the world. Ancient Italian civilizations, such as the Romans, and its contribution to architecture, philosophy, warfare, politics, and art remain the basis of civilizations. Much like the protagonist in The Conformist, Italy has long been trying to reconcile the imperfection that psychosexual dysfunctions are viewed to represent with its perception as being an infallible nation cultivated on tradition, order, and culture. As a result of this discrepancy between imagery and reality, the acceptance and diagnosis of psychosexual dysfunctions in Italy has been slow because it conflicts with the Italian ideal.
 Psychosexual - Italy In a 2006 survey conducted by the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera (Evening Courier), 87.8% of Italians identified themselves as Roman Catholic. It is impossible to discuss psychosexual dysfunctions on a societal level in Italy without discussing the institutional importance of the Catholic Church. Though the processes of globalization, demographic shifts, and state-level secularization have all contributed to the weakened political influence of the Church, the role of religious values on Italian societies understanding of psychosexuality cannot be disputed. For centuries, the Church’s moral righteousness and condemnations were more influential than
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Tags: common psychosexual problems, Dysfunctions, real psychosexual dysfunction, psychosexual disorde, strong moral meaning, psychosexual
When the Islamic Revolution in 1979 overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and established an Islamic republic led by Ayatollah Khomeini, it represented a profound political and social transformation in Iranian society, particularly towards sexuality. The Revolution sought to counter the influences of secularization that became institutionalized under the Shah’s government. After all, most Iranians are Muslims; 90% belong to the Shi’a branch of Islam, which became the official state religion, and about 8% belong to the Sunni branch of Islam. Under the Islamic Republic, all laws in the new republic would be based on Islamic Shari’a law. Yet, the implementation of Islamic law is surrounded by controversy, particularly as it pertains to its attitudes towards sexuality. While much of the world was undergoing a sexual revolution that espoused the virtues of “free love” during the 1970s, the Islamic Revolution arose from distrust over this sexual liberalization. This offers clues to Iranian secrecy concerning sexuality and their attitudes towards psychosexual dysfunctions.
Sexuality in Islam is largely based on the Muslim holy book known as the Qur’an and the sayings of Mohammed within it. But, wide-scale policies regarding sexuality deduced from the Holy book have always been based on interpretation and perspective. How much of these laws are merely projections of the cleric’s views on sex, rather than the actual beliefs of Mohammed? Because of Islam’s ambivalence towards sexuality, the Islamic Republic has created an environment that lacks openness when it comes to discussing psychosexual dysfunctions suffered by Iranians.
 Persian ivory When discussing sexuality in Islam, it becomes difficult to separate the truth from interpretation. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, an individual’s psychosexual health has to meet several criteria. For beginners, sexual relationship needs to be between a man and a woman. “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country,” told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an American audience in Setpember 2007. “In Iran, we do not have this phenomenon.” Homosexuality is a crime punishable by
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Tags: psychosexual health, Dysfunctions, republic of iran, muslim holy book, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, sexual attitudes in iran
“Sex is as important as eating or drinking,” wrote French novelist Marquis de Sade, “and we ought to allow the one appetite to be satisfied with as little restraint or false modesty as the other.” In comparing American women to French, Thomas Jefferson observed that while Americans had “the good sense to value domestic happiness above all other”, in France it was a comparison of “Angels to Amazons.” Jefferson was not only speaking of female aloofness in terms of politics and the work force, but regarding sexuality too. Echoing the sentiments of Sade, French society has long developed a reputation for its laissez-faire attitude about sexuality – one that views even sexology as giving too much thought into sexuality. The May 1968 protests in France may have changed little politically for France, but its social impact was massive. Traditional morality melted into more liberal ideals of morality, which included the emphasis on feminist equality and sexual liberation. Today, in many corners of Paris, sex clubs are abundant. In France, sexology is not categorized as a specific method of psychotherapy. What this signifies is that French society has a vastly different understanding of what constitutes psychosexual health and dysfunctions in relation to the more puritanistic views seen in the more sexually conservative countries
 Psychosexual dysfunctions in France Long before 1968 shook gender identity and sexual liberation, the French Revolution brought about political and social upheavals that still resonate today. Removing itself from the traditional order of society that was based on feudalism and privileges for the aristocracy and the Catholic clergy, the French Revolution carried the battle cry: “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity). What the Revolution did was turn French values on its head, assaulting conventions with a sledgehammer. The French Revolution was unprecedented in that it attempted to convert the ideals conceived by the minds of Enlightenment thinkers into practical implementation. Principles such as
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Tags: men french kissing, psychosexua, France sexology, "study of sexuality in france", beaches common sites, french kissing, Sexual
Whether it occurs as a strategy of military or in an isolated incident, rape is an effective weapon not only physically, but psychologically. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide that cost between 800,000 to 1 million lives over the course of 100 days, rape became a widespread and systematic modus operandi. Indeed, a 1996 report published by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Rwanda estimated that between 250,000 to 500,000 Rwandese women and girls were raped during this brief period. There are no shortages of tales from women who survived the brutalization, sexual slavery, and forced mutilation. But, mass rape as a weapon was not isolated to the borders of Rwanda: in the 20th century alone, systematic rapes occurred in places such as China, Pakistan, Chad, Serbia, Germany, Sudan, among other regions that experienced large-scale violence. Rape is an assertion of dominance and the psychosexual scars it leaves are more permanent than its physical ones. However, a difficulty in prosecuting perpetrators of rape or sexual assault in any form – such as enforced pregnancy, prostitution, sterilization, or slavery – is that its victims often remain silent. The helplessness felt from being sexually assaulted against their will forces many victims of rape to suffer quietly in the psychosexual effects of rape.
 Psychosexual Effects of Rape Sexual assault in any form is an act of violence. In most cases, victims of rape believe that their survival depends on obedience and absolute submission to the perpetrators of the act. Once it occurs, however, women internalize it and cope with it in different ways. In 1974, Ann Wolbert Burgess and Lynda Lytle Holmstrom studied 146 patients admitted during a one-year period to the Boston City Hospital with a presenting complaint of having suffered rape. They sought to document the process of “rape trauma syndrome.” This involved recording the women’s state of mind when they were brought to the hospital and three months afterwards. What they recorded were
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Tags: restraining controlled emotions, rape psychosexual, psychological, the effects of rape on its victims, freud,psychosocial effects
Female’s transition through three definitive periods in their life: the pre-reproductive period of prepubescence, the reproductive age, and finally the end of fertility. Whereas the transition from child to woman is characterized by puberty, the end of fertility in midlife is ushered in by. Menopause signifies the permanent cessation of menstruation or reproductive fertility that brings about profound physical, emotional, and social changes to females. Unlike in past centuries or even today in countries with lower life expectancies such as Afghanistan where women live up to only 44 years on average, women of today may spend more than half their lives living the post-menopausal life. As a result, psychologists are increasingly conducting research that investigates the post-menopausal lifestyles of women. In particular, because menopause is rooted in the sexual function of women, psychosexual psychiatrists have paid attention to the psychosexual effects that menopause has.
Although menopause signals the end of menses, it is actually quite a gradual process that occurs over the course of a few years. Perimenopause is highlighted by decreased levels of circulating estrogen and has many symptoms associated with it, such as hot flashes, migraine headaches, and psychosomatic symptoms such as irritability and forgetfulness. Because menopause is caused by the natural cessation of hormone production by the ovaries, scientists analyze ovarian hormones ñ in particular, estrogens, androgens, and progesterone ñ and how the alteration in their bodily production influences the psychological and sexual makeup of post-menopausal women. As it regards female sexuality, menopause impacts psychologically as much as it does physiologically.
 Psychosexual Effects of Menopause. Among the biggest misconception concerning post-menopausal women is that they lose their libido, whereas men never lose their lust and capacity to sexually perform. That is absolutely incorrect as post-menopausal women can remain quite sexual. However, because females do undergo more dramatic biological changes than their male counterparts, menopause is more likely to challenge previous sexual functioning and have psychosexual effects, including the reduction in their sexual drive. The most common psychosexual effect menopause has in females includes the increase of psychosexual dysfunctions, such as orgasmic disorder, hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or even sexual pain disorders. Sexual arousal becomes more challenging with the fatigue and irritations that accompany menopause. Libido is hurt by
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Tags: Dysfunctions, Menopause, psychosexual effect menopause, Dyspareunia, women sexuality, pelvic blood flow, female orgasmic disorder
Circumcision poses an interesting dilemma concerning its psychosexual effects and possibly trauma it inflicts. Increasingly there is a prevalent mentality in society that because humans now have the technology and capability to alter their physical appearance, that they should be allowed to do so on the basis that it boosts their self-value. Sometimes the reasons for reconstructive surgery are entirely understandable, such as those disfigured in accidents. Curiously, the reasons are more often rooted in insecurities about bodily features that biology did not intend for them to have, such as the perfect nose, perky breasts, or bulging biceps. Nonetheless, the mantra “To each their own” rings true, and if people want to remedy their imperfections, no harm done. Although reconstructive surgery procedures have grown more intricate, it is the oldest procedures whose merit continues to be vigorously debated: Circumcision. It has become sufficient to argue that religious, cultural, or societal norms underlie whether circumcision should be undertaken. Yet, many of the critics towards circumcision argue that this is not excusable because it dismisses the effect circumcision has not only physiologically, but psychologically.
 Effects of Circumcision For clarification, circumcision limits itself to signify the cutting off part or the entire foreskin of a penis and permanently exposing the glans. The reason to clarify this is because the medical community discerns between male circumcisions that require no damage to the sexual organ itself to its female equivalent. The female counterpart is known as “female genital cutting” which removes partially or totally the external female genitalia, and is rarely performed because it is generally viewed as mutilation.
Today, infant male circumcision rates grow despite increasing number of questions from the medical community concerning its medical justification. In a 2007 report entitled Male circumcision: Global trends and
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Tags: adverse effects of circumcision, infant male circumcision, "foreskin retraction glans penis ring", freud circumcision, possible psychosexual effects, trauma, cutting off the foreskin
Abortion has long been and remains a source of considerable controversy, particularly in regards to the mental health and psychological effects of the procedure. The value system that favors or condemns abortion is rooted in so many layers, such as the individual’s interpretation of morality, ethics, legality, and science. Some equate abortion to cold blooded murder. To others, abortion needs to be left to the decision of those who undergo the procedure which is dependent on many factors, such as whether they can afford the child, whether it was desired in the first place etc. Then, there are those shades of grey areas concerning abortion: What if the baby is wanted, yet amniocentesis warn of defects that may well cripple the child for his entire life? Or, what if a woman becomes impregnated as a victim of rape? Public opinion throughout the world remains debated, but what is often ignored in the midst of screaming debates are the potential psychological, rather than physiological, effects and mental health ramifications of abortion. Yet, even that argument is controversial for numerous reasons.
 Psychosexual Effects of Abortion When discussing the traumatic psychological effects of abortion, it is important to discern between forced abortion and elective abortions. In the case of forced abortions, women are often forced into unwanted abortions by lovers, relatives, and other influential persons in their lives. Forced abortions are particularly common in developing countries where socioeconomic conditions, lack of legal procedures preceding the abortion, and gender identities all contribute to the lack of say by women concerning their pregnancy. By contrast, elective abortions occur when the decision rests entirely on the woman herself. Context and justification for the abortion plays an important role on how the incident in internalized by and traumatic to the woman. Studies correlate a higher rate of diagnosable post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the cases of the traumatic experience of forced abortion. PTSD is a psychological dysfunction in where a person’s coping mechanisms are distorted giving way to feelings of intense fear and helplessness. According to Dr. David C. Reardon of The Elliot Institute – a pro-life organization that
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Tags: effects of post abortiopn to the behavior of a woman, psychosexual disorde, books on emotional effects of abortion, mental effects of abortion, common psychological effects, forced abortion photos, emotional effects of abortion
Traditional Christians welcome the first day of Lent with modest practices, such as attending mass. Not the Brazilians. The Brazilian Carnaval is a five day extravaganza of nonstop music and sexual decadence that ends the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The celebration itself is believed to have roots in the pagan festival of Saturnalia which, in Christian terms, is a final celebration before committing to sexual dormancy for purposes of religious discipline. Brazil is often characterized by outsiders as having a sexually inclined culture, whether it is the impressive physical looks of Brazilians, their cultural openness towards sexuality, or that a source of national pride is bedroom performances. The possibility that Brazilian sexuality could be undermined by any form of psychosexual dysfunction counters what people view the Brazilian sexual identity to be. Yet, psychosexual dysfunctions are common in Brazil. Because psychosexual disorders are rooted in the psychological rather than the physiological, Brazilians face many social, economic, and stresses of culture that may make them more vulnerable to suffering from psychosexual dysfunctions than most other cultures.
Sexual dysfunctions are characterized as a disturbance in sexual desire or arousal. Studies investigating psychosexual dysfunctions in Brazilian society reflect the profound influence external pressures have on psychosexual health of ordinary Brazilians. In particular, psychosexual attitudes are dictated by three aspects of Brazilian society: the political, the social, and the economic.
 Brazilian Association of Sexology The predominant religion in Brazil is Roman Catholicism with 70% of its near 200 million population practicing Catholicism. The predominance of the Christian faith has had a powerful influence in enabling policies that support Christian doctrine and attitudes become legislation and become accepted by Brazilian society, particularly concerning sexuality. For example, in Brazil, abortion is officially illegal except if the pregnancy puts the life of the woman in danger, or if the pregnancy is the result of a rape. Yet, even that compromise remains a source of tension and has earned the ire of the Roman Catholic Church. In March 2009, a national debate broke out after Archbishop José Cardoso Sobrinho announced the excommunication of a mother and the doctors who performed an abortion on a nine year old that became pregnant with
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Tags: wide income discrepancy, high sexual culture, culture openness with sex, psychosexual disorder, female sexual
Although Africa represents 12% of the worldís population, over 60% of the AIDS-infected population resides on the continent. The African continent is represented by an eclectic group of cultures, customs, politics, economics, and societies. Yet, common stresses between African countries, such as famine, lack of educational infrastructure, wars, and lack of accessibility to health care and opportunities to create wealth have all handicapped Africa’s overall progress in tackling the AIDS/HIV crisis. Even beyond the incompetence of government infrastructure, a large part of the virusí rapid spread has to do with sexual cultural norms in many African traditions. The norm of multiple sexual partners, particularly in males, is common. Promiscuity demonstrates the absolute disregard of factoring potential risks into sexuality in Africa. During his 2005 trial after being accused of rape, current South Africa President Jacob Zuma admitted to having unprotected sex with a woman that he knew was HIV-positive. Among his defense rested on the fact that he took a shower afterwards to cut the risk of contracting HIV. Attitudes towards sexuality and its consequences across Africa in some ways are similar, yet in other ways very different. In that way, psychosexual dysfunctions show themselves in many forms that depend on cultural norms and circumstance in Africa.
 Rwandese Man One common trait among African cultural beliefs and practices is the patriarchal gender system that elevates males to positions of power and women to subordinate positions. One consistency among African women is that a large number in the continent lack control over own sexuality. Part of this has to do with tradition rooted in the husbands being the bread earners and fighters, and women the nurturers. In a continent ravaged by poverty as a whole, this patriarchal society has translated into better opportunities, if there are any to be afforded, to males over females. Economic dependence has undermined women’s right to safe sexuality. Consistent in the poorer regions of the continent, women’s health needs are widely neglected. Poor nutrition and overall physical and mental health have made sterility the most common form
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Tags: dominant virile male, certain sexual behaviors, restrictive religious education, african sexuality dysfunctions, having unprotected sex, sex, multiple sexual partners
Hysterectomy is as Isaac Newton once famously prescribed that ìEvery action has an equal and opposite reaction.î Similarly, when surgery tinkers with the human body with the goal of physical improvement, rarely is the physiological change viewed in terms of how it will alter the psychological or psychosexual. The impact hysterectomy surgery has on psychosexuality and the mental health of women is rarely discussed when the procedure is undertaken. Hysterectomy involves the surgical removal of the uterus which is the setting of fetal development during pregnancy. The most common form of hysterectomy is known as total hysterectomy which involves removal of the cervix, uterus, and the fallopian tubes. Today, hysterectomy remains commonly performed in many countries, with rates varying from 37% of US women over 60 to 3.8% of women in the Netherlands. According to the US Department of Health & Human Services, each year in America alone over 600,000 hysterectomies are performed. But, current trends reveal a contradictory message: While increasingly hysterectomies are being undergone for the purpose of quality of life rather than life-saving measures, there is an increasing public curiosity and anxiety concerning its psychosexual ramifications.
 Promoting hysteroscopy It is important to stress that hysterectomy can be necessitated by illnesses. Cancers in the uterus, cervix, or ovary may leave no other alternatives. Severe uterine bleeding from childbirth or infection may require it too. Sometimes, there are physiological issues that may not make hysterectomy necessary but still desirable, such as the presence of benign fibroid tumors. The issue, however, does concern its increasing popularity in illnesses that offer alternative remedies. “If less invasive alternatives have a reasonable chance of solving a problem, then in most cases that would be preferable,” writes Dr. Indman, a renowned California-based gynecologist and author in an editorial Hysterectomy will ruin my sex life. “That is why I am so aggressive about promoting hysteroscopy, hysteroscopic procedures, and
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Tags: profound psychosexual effects, uterus in public, effects of mixed messages, equal and opposite reaction, Department of Health, the psychosexuals 4 tubes, Sexual
Pregnancy is a period of mixed emotions for women. On one hand, it is the most wonderful experience in terms of the significance of a person being literally created from your care. However, many of the joyful elements of pregnancy may be overshadowed by its psychological and psychosexual toll. Fluctuating hormonal levels that accompany pregnancy and the post partum period wreak havoc on women’s mental health with its common symptoms of anxiety, depression, sadness, and irritability. Because pregnancy affects virtually all hormones in the body, what is undeniable is the profound psychological and psychosexual effects that giving birth, both prenatal and postnatal, has on female personality.
To understand the role hormones play on the psychological and sexual makeup of prenatal and postnatal women, scientists first analyze ovarian hormones – in particular, estrogens, androgens, and progesterone – and how an alteration in their bodily production influences psychosexual behavior. During early pregnancy, levels of estrogen and progesterone rise because the placenta – the organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall – produces a hormone known as chorionic gonadotropin that stimulates the ovaries to continue to produce these essential hormones. Among the physiological effects of this occurrence include the cessation of the menstrual cycle as well as changes in how the body handles glucose levels. Following the second trimester of pregnancy, hormonal fluctuations cause a sharp rise in glucose levels in the blood because most of it is being conserved for use by the fetus. As a result, the pancreas is forced to produce more insulin. This fluctuation of blood sugar levels can lead to fatigue, irritability, or even a form of diabetes known as gestational diabetes.
 Pregnant With all these hormonal changes, researches from across the world documenting many cultures have published studies documenting an overall reduction in womenís sexual activities during pregnancy. In a study conducted by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, surveys recorded that ìover 60% of the women had a reduction in sexual desire and enjoyment during pregnancy, and over 80% of the women worried about the adverse effects of sexual activity on the fetus.î While inadequate knowledge and hormonal activities influence the decision to refrain from sexual activity during pregnancy, the collapse of libido is also a sign of psychosexual disorder.
At the most basic level, psychosexual disorders are disturbances in sexual function due to psychological problems. This psychological anxiety and conflict over sex during pregnancy is influenced by both hormones, such as symptoms like fatigue or depression, or psychological disorders, such as the excessive anxiety towards hurting the child in some form if they engage in sex. Combine all these elements from pregnancy and the woman is left mentally exhausted. If the mental has
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Tags: effect of psychosexual diorder, women before giving birth, photo documenting pregnancy, giving birth woman photos, psychological effects of child birth, ولادة
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