DESEJO SEXUAL HIPOATIVO E TRANSTORNO DO PÂNICO

Abstract

The correlation between sexual dysfunctions and anxiety has been signalized by countless authors. Kaplan (1983) suggests that anxiety is the "background" of all sexual dysfunctions, and that the harsher it is, the more it blocks up sexual response, directly affecting desire, and thus hindering any further step. In World Health Organization's tenth international classification of diseases (ICD-10, (1993)), Panic Disorder is considered to be one of the most frequent forms of anxiety. Grounded on these data, we tried to relate Panic Disorder to the Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. Twenty-six patients have participated in the present research, males and females who have spontaneously sought for psychiatric attendance in Hospital Municipal Lourenço Jorge and in Santa Casa de Misericórdia, both located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. All these patients have necessarily satisfied the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Text (DSM-IV-RT, (2002)), for "Panic Disorder, accompanied or not by Agoraphobia". A self-assessment questionnaire by Masters, Johnson & Kolodny (1997), adapted by the author, was applied to the patients, to verify the frequency desire decrease among them. Statistic analysis has been carried out through the application of tests by Wilcoxon and U by Mainn-Whitney, and indicates the existence of a statistically significant association between Panic Disorder, accompanied or not by Agoraphobia, and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (as depicted by DSM-IV-RT, (2002).