Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health
Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health

Low libido / low sex drive

What is low libido?

Physical causes of low libido

Psychological / social causes of low libido

Prevention / remedies / treatment for low libido

References

What is low libido?

Libido (sex drive) is your overall desire for sexual activity. Males reach the peak of their sex drive in their teens, whereas females usually feel their most horny in their late thirties. Asexual people lack any sexual desire, and a very few have never experienced any sexual desire in their lives. In contrast, hypersexual people have an extremely frequent or a suddenly increased sex drive.

Depending on age and all the other factors listed below, a normal desire for sex can range from several times per day to once a month. Lack of desire for sexual activity for long periods of time may be a hypoactive sexual desire disorder - more common in women, but unusual in men (2).

Low libido or lack of sex drive is common in women but unusual in men. Low libido should not be confused with erectile dysfunction. Most men with lack of libido can still achieve erections, but have lost the desire to have sex. Some (but not all) men find that their interest in sex diminishes as they get older.

There is no agreed measure of what a healthy sex drive actually is. Sexual libido problems are common in both men and women, and are affected by many factors such as mood state, interpersonal functioning and numerous medications. Depending on who you talk to, estimates of the number of people affected by low sex drive range from a small percentage to more than 80%. (3)

For both men and women, sexual desire is often important for both the formation and maintenance of an intimate relationship.

A woman's sexual desire is correlated to her menstrual cycle, with most women having a heightened sexual desire in the days before ovulation.

An occasional drop in your sex drive is normal, but extended periods that affect your relationships or self-confidence need attention.

A low sex drive can have both physical and psychological / social causes.

Psychological / social causes of low libido

Prevention / remedies / treatment for low libido

References

1. Ziegler, T. E. Female sexual motivation during non-fertile periods: a primate phenomenon. Hormones and Behavior. 2007, 51(1), 1-2.

2. Clayton AH. The pathophysiology of hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women. July 2010. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 110 (1): 7-11. PMID 20434725.

3. Rosen RC, Lane RM, Menza M. Effects of SSRIs on sexual function: a critical review. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1999 Feb;19(1):67-85.

4. Jeffrey D. Blaustein. Progesterone and Progestin Receptors in the Brain: The Neglected Ones. Endocrinology June 1, 2008 vol. 149 no. 6 2737-2738.