Psychology of Sexual Dysfunctions and Paraphilias

Sexual Dysfunctions

• Four phases of the sexual response cycle: desire, excitement, orgasm, and resolution.
• Male hypoactive sexual desire disorder: Men lack interest in sex (up to 16% prevalence).
• Female sexual interest/arousal disorder: Women don't initiate sex (33% prevalence).
• Male erectile disorder: Issues with premature or delayed ejaculation, or lack of ejaculation.
• Female orgasmic disorder: Difficulty achieving orgasm (24% prevalence). Similar origins to female arousal disorder and frequently involves difficulty relaxing.
• Disorders of sexual pain: Vaginismus and dyspareunia, also known as Genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder.

Paraphilic Disorders

• Paraphilia: Intense sexual urges, behaviors, or fantasies involving objects/situations outside of norm.
• Fetishistic disorder: Recurrent intense sexual urges/needs involving non-genital objects. (e.g., high heels)
• Transvestic fetishism: Cross-dressing.
• Exhibitionism: Showing genitals to a non-consenting person. More common in males.
• Voyeurism: Urge to secretly observe unsuspecting people. The risk of discovery increases excitement.
• Frotteurism: Touching genitals against a non-consenting person.
• Pedophilia: Sexual gratification through sexual acts with prepubescent children.
• Sexual masochism: Sexual arousal from humiliation/pain/bondage. Fantasies of being forced into sexual acts.
• Sexual sadism: Sexual arousal from inflicting suffering/pain on others.

Gender Identity Disorder

• Gender identity disorder: Unhappiness with one's biological sex. Controversially classified as disorder due to potential for causing emotional distress. Can involve hormonal/ surgical interventions for gender transition.
• Androgen insensitivity syndrome: Men do not receive androgens(male sex hormones)
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia: Women secrete androgens.

Addiction and Substance Use Disorders

• Primrose Pathway: A behavioral economic theory suggesting addiction is driven by addictive substance economics and environmental factors.
• Wanting and liking: Wanting is driven by dopamine pathways, liking by opiate pathways. Wanting often overrides liking.
• Genetics and disease model: Disorders have genetic roots that are not caused by moral failure. They are viewed as diseases.
• Stimulants: Cocaine, amphetamines ("uppers").
• Depressants: Alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, opioids ("downers").
• Hallucinogens: LSD, PCP, Cannabis.

Specific Substance Effects

• Tolerance: Increased drug dosage needed for desired effect.
• Withdrawal: Unpleasant physical symptoms after stopping substance use.
• Alcohol: Relaxation, decreased inhibition, slowed CNS, impaired judgment.
• Nicotine: Stimulating, addictive psychoactive drug in tobacco.
• Cocaine: Powder snorted, increase dopamine, increased blood pressure, euphoria.
• Heroin: Narcotic derived from opium, highly addictive.
• Morphine: Narcotic derived from opium, strong pain relief.
• Barbiturates/Benzodiazepines: Increase GABA, slow behavior, reduce judgement, reduce anxiety, induce sleep.
• GABA: Major inhibitory neurotransmitter, prevents neural firing, potentially linked to anxiety.
• Caffeine: Mild stimulant in coffee, tea.
• Cannabis: Common hallucinogen, increased blood pressure, heart rate, alertness, central nervous system impact, behavioral changes.
• LSD: Psychedelic drug, perceptual/thought distortions.
• Mescaline: Psychedelic drug from peyote cactus.
• Amphetamines: Stay awake, lose weight, increased CNS, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin activity.
• Methamphetamines: Powerful addictive stimulant affecting the CNS, increasing body function, energy, and mood—but eventually reducing dopamine baseline.
• MDMA: Increases oxytocin, decreases amygdala activity (fear).

Treatment and Effects

• Synergistic effects: Drug interactions; combined effect greater than individual effects.
• Cross-tolerance: Tolerance for a substance due to using similar substance.
• Hallucinogens as a treatment for mental health:Potential use to treat mental disorders, reopen pathways.

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders

• Positive symptoms of schizophrenia: Delusions, hallucinations (aberrant salience hypothesis). Dopamine-related, heightened stimuli creates sensations where none exist.
• Negative symptoms of schizophrenia: Blunted affect, abolition, lack of speech, social withdrawal.
• Hallucinations: Perceptions in absence of external stimuli; auditory (most common), visual, olfactory, tactile, gustatory, somatic.
• Delusions: Persecutory, reference, grandeur, control.
• Delusions of grandeur: "I am Jesus."
• Delusions of persecution: "The CIA is following me."
• Delusions of control: "A device is controlling my thoughts."
• Delusions of reference: Giving special significance to unrelated events.
• Affect in schizophrenia: Alexithymia (lack of emotion), anhedonia (lack of pleasure).
• Psychomotor problems: Catatonia, rigidity, excessive movements.
• Developmental phases of schizophrenia: Prodromal, active, residual.
• Causes of schizophrenia: Genetic factors, biochemical imbalances, brain abnormalities, psychosocial influences, stress.
• Dopamine in schizophrenia: High levels, antipsychotics reduce dopamine.
• Diathesis stress model: Vulnerability coupled with event causing disorder.
• Effects of antipsychotic drugs: Muscle tremors/involuntary movements, poor coordination, tardive dyskinesia (long-term side effect).
• Brief psychotic disorder: One day to one month of symptoms, with or without stressor to onset.
• Schizoaffective disorder: Schizophrenia and mood disorder (bipolar or depressive).
• Delusional disorder: Longer than 1 month, delusions only, types: erotomania, grandiose, jealous, persecutory, somatic, mixed, unspecified.
• Schizophreniform disorder: Schizophrenia-like symptoms but lasting less than 6 months, more than 1 month.
• Cluster A personality disorder: Odd behaviors, schizophrenia-like symptoms (paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal).
• Cluster B personality disorder: Dramatic behaviors (antisocial, narcissistic, borderline, histrionic).
• Cluster C personality disorder: Anxiety (avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive).
• Paranoid personality disorder: Suspiciousness, mistrust.
• Schizoid personality disorder: Detachment from social relationships.
• Schizotypal personality disorder: Social discomfort, odd personality, eccentric ideas.
• Antisocial personality disorder: Lack of empathy, antisocial behavior before age 15.
• Borderline personality disorder: Emotional instability, impulsivity, fear of abandonment.
• Histrionic personality disorder: Attention-seeking, dramatic behavior.
• Narcissistic personality disorder: Grandiose behavior, need for admiration.
• Avoidant personality disorder: Social discomfort, fear of rejection.
• Dependent personality disorder: Excessive need to be taken care of, fear of separation.
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: Preoccupation with perfection, unreasonable standards.

Other Disorders

• Tic Disorder: Involuntary motor or vocalizations.
• Tourette's disorder: Multiple motor and vocal tics.
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Inability to focus, hyperactivity, impulsivity.
• ADHD subtypes: Inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, combined.
• Dorsal attention network: Filters stimuli; impairments in inattentive ADHD.
• Ventral attentional network: Detects novel stimuli; impairments in hyperactive ADHD.
• Sustained attention, alternating attention, selective attention, divided attention: Specific attentional functions.
• Autism: Social deficits, repetitive and rigid behaviors.
• Theory of mind: Ability to reason about others' beliefs and knowledge.
• Learning disability: Difficulty in mastering an academic subject.
• Written expression learning disability, Reading learning disability, Mathematics learning disability: Specific areas of learning affected by a learning disability.
• Intellectual developmental disorder: Below-average intellectual functioning (IQ below 70).
• IQ: Mental age/chronological age x 100.
• Separation anxiety disorder: Anxiety when parents leave.
• Reactive attachment disorder: Pathogenic care leading to inhibited or disinhibited attachment issues.
• Selective mutism: Lack of speech in public settings.

Explore the complexities of sexual dysfunctions and paraphilic disorders in this informative quiz. Understand the phases of the sexual response cycle, various sexual dysfunctions affecting both men and women, and the unique characteristics of paraphilic disorders. Test your knowledge on these essential topics in human sexuality.