What Is Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, and Why Should You Pay Attention

If you’re reading this, you know that I love my husband with every fiber of my being. To the moon and back. To infinity and beyond. He’s the bee’s knees, and as fine as frog hair. It would break my heart if I found myself in a position to WANT to show him how much I love him and just not FEEL the desire to do so. Have you ever been there?

This post is in partnership with Sprout Pharmaceuticals. All opinions are my own.

Did you know that 1 in 7 adults is in a sexless marriage? Another fact is 1 in 10 women are distressed by low sexual desire, while more than 15 million women overall suffer from HSDD.

What is HSDD?

HSDD stands for hypoactive sexual desire disorder. It is a sexual dysfunction that causes a lowered sex drive in women and they are frustrated/stressed out/upset by it. Before you think this is a problem with being tired or an issue with not being attracted to a spouse, it’s not. It’s the actual act of not WANTING to have sex with their spouses even though they are very much attracted to and in love with them.

Taking this quiz will give you more of an idea of what to look out for with your own sexual desire. Given that women are so connected throughout their bodies, and an undiagnosed condition such as HSDD can stem from a chemical imbalance in the brain, it’s no wonder there is so much confusion and even embarrassment about not feeling the desire to have sex with their spouse any longer, even when they love so deeply.

Who Has HSDD?

The average HSDD patient has a couple of things that may alert them to their possible diagnosis.

• They are in a long-term stable monogamous relationship
• They used to have a “normal” desire for sex
• They have lost their desire, and it’s been missing for a while
• This loss is causing significant distress for them

If this sounds like something you may be going through, you should definitely contact your healthcare provider and have them listen to you. This can be your primary care physician, your obstetrician, or even your gynecologist. Each of them should be able to talk about HSDD with you and the course of action that you can take. They should be as comfortable speaking to you about HSDD as they are speaking to men about erectile dysfunction. You can also head to the American Sexual Health Association’s site to see where providers are near you.

HSDD is nothing to be ashamed of and is not a normal process of aging. This isn’t something that you can just “buck up buttercup” and move on with. It’s a legitimate health concern for women and should be taken seriously.

Join me for the next two months as I continue to shed light on this subject and speak to how important it is that we give women the tools to take control of their sexuality.