The DSM-IV-TR has two categories of sexual desire disorders, hypoactive sexual desire (HSD) and sexual aversion. Although there appear to be fewer cases of male hypoactive sexual desire than female, these lower reports may be because men feel less comfortable discussing the problem. Although there are no overall statistics available for prevalence of sexual aversion, researchers believe the condition is relatively rare (Heiman, 2002).
Sexual desire disorders are considered by many therapists to be the most complicated sexual dysfunction to treat. As we discussed previously, treatment first involves a medical workup to identify any physiological causes. A psychological evaluation will explore any past sexual trauma or abuse that may interfere with sexual desire. Intensive psychotherapy can be done to identify and resolve these causes and can also explore the motivations for avoiding intimacy. The client may also be assigned homework exercises to help identify these motivations.