What happens when a sex therapist visits a women-only Parkinson’s support group? A frank exchange about “redefining sexuality”, recalls Sharon Krischer AKA ‘Twitchy Woman’
Recently, psychologist and certified sex therapist, Dr Beth Leedham, spoke to our women’s support group about sex. A women-only environment allowed for an honest discussion about issues relating to Parkinson’s and our sexual behaviour.
According to Dr Leedham, most doctors and therapists are not comfortable about talking about it, and their patients are not comfortable talking about it, so no one talks about it.
There is very little research about women with Parkinson’s and sexuality. She started with an old survey, from 1992. The question was: “Over the last 12 months have you…?”
And the results: 43% of women and 31% of men reported having sexual dysfunction. The rate is higher in populations with mental or physical health issues. So this is a very common issue among all adults.
In a study of women with Parkinson’s, the most common difficulty is getting aroused (*87.5%). Parkinson’s affects the autonomic nervous system, and that is the system responsible for arousal. Others include difficulty reaching orgasm (75%) and dyspareunia or painful sex (12.5%).
Some of the causes: motor changes, bladder changes, cognitive changes, differences communicating emotion, sleep disturbance, depression, changes in self-esteem and body image, medication side effects and on and on.