Will Medical Solutions to Sexual Problems Make Sexological Care and Science Obsolete?

Abstract

Developments in the field of sexology indicate a trend toward the medicalization of sexual issues which is likely to continue over the next decades. With the introduction of new pharmacological treatments, the resulting shift from the biopsychosocial model to the disease model will become increasingly accepted and solidified over the next decade. Some of this shift may be beneficial in that the healthcare needs of the patient/client may at times be better served through this route. However, concern arises when such shifts are likely to limit the meaningful choices presented to the patient and to dampen support for basic psycho-behavioral and neurophysiological sexological investigation. Such developments challenge sexologists and sex therapists to define their treatment outcomes more clearly and, relying on stronger evidence-based studies, define the critical role of the therapist in achieving these outcomes.

This article is an English language rendition of an article published in Dutch in the journal Tijdschrift voor Seksuologie. Permission to reprint the article in English has been granted.

Notes

¹Defined as the inability to respond adequately sexually and thereby preventing successful and/or fulfilling sexual relations with a partner.

²The concept was first introduced to issues of health and illness by George Engel in 1977.

³Success is defined here by the reinstatement of erectile response rather than a return to overall sexual and treatment satisfaction, which were known to be quite low with the use of this treatment.

⁴The Medline database provided the reference source.

⁵It is generally recognized that the introduction of anti-psychotic drugs to successfully treat schizophrenia dampened basic research on the condition.

⁶Experts in clinical psychology have successfully used other types of research models as investigatory tools; they have also pointed out how and why data from double blind placebo-controlled studies may sometimes not provide reliable or valid data on an issue (American Psychological Association, 2007a and b)