Drug companies are pouring rivers of cash into pathologizing the fact that you don?t have sex the way you?re supposed to. So perhaps it?s not surprising that there are more and more sexual diagnoses in the International Classification of Diseases. Doctors, including shrinks, use diagnoses from the ICD, created by the World Health Organization, to get paid for the work they do.
The ICD version 9 has only seven diagnoses for sexual dysfunction under the grouping of 302.7. These are psychosexual dysfunction, inhibited sexual desire, low libido, frigidity/impotence, male orgasm inhibition, female orgasm inhibition, and premature ejaculation.
The newer set of diagnoses, known as ICD-10 and revised in June 2003, includes all of these under the new F52 heading, although it replaces psychosexual dysfunction with ?hypoactive sexual desire disorder (including anhedonia),? and ?inhibited sexual desire? with ?sexual aversion disorder?. ?Frigidity? is now considered to be part of ?female sexual arousal disorder,? which is still the companion to male impotence. (And yes, it still uses the word ?Frigidity.")
But the new set of diagnoses also includes diagnoses for ?vaginismus,? ?dyspareunia? or other sexual dysfunction, all of which aren?t due to a substance or known physiological condition.
Meanwhile, a lot of are up in arms over the treatment of sexual minorities in the ICD-10. Flip to the psych section, and you?ll find gender identity disorders listed right after ?pathological gambling,? ?pyromania,? ?kleptomania? and compulsive hair-pulling. And then after GID, you find the dreaded F65, for paraphilias. Fetishism, transvestitism, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadomasochism and ?frotteurism? are all sick, sick, sick behaviors. And just in case you thought maybe the F65 section was for things that are basically fine as long as they don?t keep you from holding down a job, the section includes F65.4, ?pedophilia.? This is sandwiched right between voyeurism and sadomasochism.
Oh, and just in case you?re wondering, according to an article in the British Medical Journal, these behaviors aren?t paraphilias if they?re incorporated into ?usual adult lovemaking.? (Except, presumably, for pedophilia.) BDSM only becomes a problem if ?such behavior becomes the erotic end in itself.? Consider yourself warned!
