Sexual Dysfunction

SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION

There is uncertainty as to what exactly constitutes a sexual disorder. The definition of “sexual disorder” is made more complex because what is considered “disordered” varies with time and culture. The World Health Organization’s International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Problems (ICD-10) suggests that sexual dysfunctions are“the various ways in which an individual is unable to partic-ipate in a sexual relationship the way he or she would wish.” Table 47.1 lists the categories of sexual dysfunction as rec-ognized by both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ofMental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR, which limits its definitions tomental disorders, and the 1998 consensus committee spon-sored by the American Foundation of Urological Disease, which is also limited insofar as it conceptualizes sexual response in women as discrete linear experiences, as in the formerly accepted model of female sexual response already discussed. These definitions will continue to be revised and updated to address contextual and other factors.