| 1 Room 518 | Sexuality and Health Friday, July 15, 2005 Time: 8:30 AM-10:30 AM |
Sexual dyfunctions in view of sexual motives.
Benestad, Esben Esther*,1, Almaas, Elsa *,, 1 Grimstad MPAT-Institute/Agder University College, Grimstad, Aust Agder, Norway
ABSTRACT- When a heterosexual couple seek therapy because of vaginism, they are not necessarily in need of a better sex-life. Sex may be just fine. Pregnancy, however, has proven to be out of reach. Their primary need is that of procreation. Likewise a man with erectile dysfunction may feel that his inability is most painful because he cannot satisfy his partner, and thus he withdraws altogether, leaving both parties in a state of longing for intimacy. Orgasm not necessarily being he ultimate goal for any of them. Masters and Johnson introduced the linear model for sexual responce: excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution. Kaplan has modified this original model, but hers is still linear. A linear model do not resonate with all human sexual needs and experiences. Circular models have amongst others been presented by Alessandra Graziottin and Beverly Whipple. These do not view excitement as a necessary starting point and orgasm/resolution as a necessary final experience. This calls for new perspectives on sexuality and how sexuality may be interfered and/or obstructed. This presentation view sexuality as a Horse of Troy, with a belly containing six motives: procreation, role performance, trance states (like in hypnosis), excitement and relaxation, contact and intimacy, and love. Based on clinical experience we see sexual dysfunction as: a deficiency of organic, mental or mixed character that in a negative, unpleasant or/and painful way interferes with the sexual motives and needs of the individual. This perspective inspires the following question to those who present sexual problems: In what way does this problem affect your sexual life? The answer may be surprising. In this presentation we will demonstrate findings from two studies we performed, one in 1987 the next in 1997 (the third planned in 2007). A Norwegian population sample got a questionaire by mail,where they should rate the significance of different sexual motives for their sexual satisfaction. The study was executed and evaluated by the Norwegian institute for surveys and population studies, MMI.
Key words: Six sexual motives, Motives interfered, Sexual dyfunction, Responce models, Norwegian study on motives