PSAS explores a woman at large

Paris: A health journal on Thursday describes of a newly-identified syndrome affecting women. It is non-stop sexual arousal that can last for months and cannot be satisfied regardless multiple orgasms.

The paper, which appears in the International Journal of Sexually-Transmitted Diseases and AIDS, tentatively calls it Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome, or PSAS.

It seems to affect only a small minority of women but the true cause is still inexplicit. Despite the sniggering or smart remarks this condition may cause a state of endless arousal, which can cripple a woman's life.

Sometimes embarrassing and often humiliating, the condition is occurs even in the absence of genuine sexual interest. Some women have been so depressed by the problem that they have even resorted to electroshock therapy.

PSAS is a "distressing and perplexing condition," say the authors, David Goldmeier of St. Mary's Hospital in London and Sandra Leiblum of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.

Women with this clinical experience say that the symptoms are unwelcome since the genital arousal is usually persistent, unprovoked and unrelieved by orgasm.

The persistent genital arousal lead to a high degree of psychological distress and even suicidal thoughts, reports say.

The syndrome is a physical disorder in which the labia, vulva and clitoris become engorged with blood, causing arousal. PSAS is different from the psychological condition of hyper sexuality, the medical term for nymphomania.

But the causes for the syndrome remain unclear because it is newly identified and thus a poorly explored condition and those who suffer from it are silent sufferers.

Anecdotal evidence points to the entrapment of local nerves or a disorder in blood circulation around the genitals. Another suspected culprit is a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Some women who have discontinued the drugs have reported of PSAS symptoms that typically last a few days to a few weeks but which sometimes can last for more than 18 months.

"Due to the reluctance of women to come forward we are unsure how common the problem is," Goldmeier said urging women with PSAS not to feel marginalised.

The study also notes that PSAS sheds light on a new aspect of women's sexuality, which is traditionally dominated by the problem of sexual dysfunction.