Try to determine which factors have played a role in your life. At the end of the chapter, an interactive diagnostic flowchart will help guide you to an appropriate diagnosis. All of them involve some interruption at a specific point in the sexual response cycle. This interruption usually results from many factors rather than from a single cause. Successful treatment requires that both be considered, since all of the factors affecting sexual dysfunction interact with one another.
Several components contribute to sexual dysfunction.
Inner psychological conflict between a woman s sexual desires and her inhibitions can play an important role in sexual dysfunction. Psychoanalytic or psychodynamic models suggest that a person is often not aware of these conflicts because they are unconscious, but the effects are still felt. Successful treatment depends upon uncovering and working through these conflicts. Conjoint sex therapy, which involves both partners, is based on the premise that sexual problems are directly related to the dynamics of the relationship. A history of sexual trauma or other serious problems in early life also creates sexual difficulties.