recognized as a sexual disorder since 1950, hsdd affects about 14 per cent of all women, though as many as 40 per cent self-report low sexual desire, according to a 2018 study published in obstetrics & gynecology .
and though low sexual desire increases with age, a 2016 study found that hsdd is relatively constant across age groups, from 18 to over 65. under-detected and under-treated, researchers found hsdd is associated with lower health-related quality of life, lower general happiness and satisfaction with partners and more frequent negative emotional states.
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some of the current treatment options for hsdd include counselling and sex therapy. in 2015, the u.s. food and drug administration approved flibanserin for the treatment of hsdd, which was originally developed as an antidepressant and can induce “tenacious” side effects such as fatigue, insomnia and depression.
mdma has shown success in helping people heal from post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) and mind cure’s clinical research program has focused on how mdma may ease some of the fear factor responses in women, which play a large role in causing female-related sexual disorders.
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other members of the desire project include dr. jennifer mitchell, who has worked with the multidisciplinary association for psychedelic studies (maps) on its mdma-assisted therapy for ptsd studies , and dr. cindy meston, who directs the female sexual psychophysiology laboratory at the university of texas in austin, one of the few laboratories in the world devoted exclusively to the study of women’s sexual health.
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the opportunity to become involved with mind cure’s research was a convergence of her work in trauma, ptsd and psychedelic-assisted therapy, which she has undergone herself .
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