Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

This article describes a case of persistent sexual arousal syndrome (PSAS) seen by the Gynecology Consult Service of the National Institutes of Health. This syndrome was first described in 2001 and is characterized by excessive and unrelenting sexual arousal in the absence of desire. PSAS has only recently come to the attention of the health care community, and its prevalence in the population is not completely known. It is important to report cases of this syndrome in order to help clarify its prevalence, etiology, and prognosis and to determine possible methods of treatment.

Self-Reported Differences on Measures of Executive Function and Hypersexual Behavior in a Patient and Community Sample of Men

“…The presenting symptoms cannot occur exclusively within the context of another Axis I disorder (e.g., manic phase of bipolar), be substance induced, or occur in relation to neurological pathology (Coleman, 1991;Kafka, 2001;Stein, 2008). Hypersexual behavior is also observed as a distinct and separate construct from the phenomena of persistent sexual arousal syndrome, in which an individual experiences persistent sexual arousal in the absence of desire (Leiblum & Seehuus, 2009;Mahoney & Zarate, 2007). Symptoms associated with hypersexual behavior can include solo or relational sexual activities and can occur in comorbidity with paraphilic tendencies (Kafka & Hennen, 2003).…”

Understanding the Roles of Shame and Neuroticism in a Patient Sample of Hypersexual Men

“…The presenting symptoms could not occur exclusively within the context of another Axis I disorder (e.g., manic phase of bipolar), be substance-induced, or occur in relation to neurological pathology (Coleman, 1991;Kafka, 1997). Hypersexual behavior was also observed as a distinct and separate construct from the phenomenon of persistent sexual arousal syndrome, in which an individual experiences persistent sexual arousal in the absence of desire (Leiblum and Seehuus, 2009;Mahoney and Zarate, 2007). Symptoms associated with hypersexual behavior could include solo or relational sexual activities and could occur comorbidly with paraphilic tendencies (Kafka and Hennen, 2003).…”

Demoralization, Hypomanic Activation, and Disconstraint Scores on MMPI-2 Scales as Significant Predictors of Hypersexual Behavior

“…Furthermore, the symptoms cannot occur exclusively within the context of another Axis I disorder (e.g., manic phase of bipolar); be substance induced; or occur in relation to neurological pathology such as a brain injury, temporal lobe epilepsy, or Kluver-Bucy syndrome (Coleman, 1991, Kafka, 2001Reid, 2007;Reid, Carpenter, & Lloyd, 2009). Hypersexual behavior is also distinct and separate from the phenomenon of persistent sexual arousal syndrome in which an individual experiences persistent sexual arousal in the absence of desire (Leiblum & Nathan, 2001;Mahoney & Zarate, 2007). As a group, hypersexual patients often use sex as a tension-reduction behavior (e.g., stress relief, affect regulation) to escape uncomfortable or unpleasant mood states (Reid, Carpenter, Spackman, & Willes, 2008).…”