(Photo credit: QUT Marketing & Communication)
QUEENSLAND, Australia — Having sex may feel like a badge of honor for many men, but for others, it’s an act that, once finished, brings about intense feelings of sadness. In a new study, researchers for the first time ever have identified that women aren’t the only ones who can suffer from this emotional tidal wave in the bedroom, better known as post coital dysphoria, or PCD.
PCD occurs when a person has, for all intents and purposes, enjoyable consensual sex with a partner, but is met with “inexplicable feelings of tearfulness, sadness, or irritability” afterwards.
Researchers from the Queensland University of Technology say PCD had only previously been recognized in women, but after a survey of 1,208 men from numerous countries — including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Russia — it’s clear that the condition is more common among males than one might expect. In fact, four in 10 participants recalled suffering from PCD symptoms at some point in their lives.
“Forty-one percent of the participants reported experiencing PCD in their lifetime with 20 percent reporting they had experienced it in the previous four weeks,” says co-author Joel Maczkowiack, a masters student at the university’s school of psychology, in a release.
As many as 4 percent of the individuals, who voluntarily participated in the online questionnaire via postings on social media and psychological research websites, said they battle PCD symptoms regularly. Men acknowledged that statements such as “I don’t want to be touched and want to be left alone,” or “I feel unsatisfied, annoyed and very fidgety. All I really want is to leave and distract myself from everything I participated in,” applied to them when thinking about times they’d made love. Others described feeling “emotionless and empty” even though the sex was otherwise satisfactory.
“It is commonly believed that males and females experience a range of positive emotions including contentment and relaxation immediately following consensual sexual activity,” says co-author Robert Schweitzer, a professor at the university.
Schweitzer says that research has shown that couples that continue engaging in acts of intimacy after sex, such as talking, kissing, or cuddling, feel more satisfied in their relationships and strengthen the bond they share. Conversely, the emotional rollercoaster that comes with PCD could magnify any conflict in a relationship and wind up causing a bond between two people to break even further.
“The first three phases of the human sexual response cycle – excitement, plateau, and orgasm – have been the focus of the majority of research to date,” Professor Schweitzer said. “Yet previous studies on the PCD experience of females showed that a similar proportion of females had experienced PCD on a regular basis. As with the men in this new study, it is not well understood. We would speculate that the reasons are multifactorial, including both biological and psychological factors.”
The authors say the findings show sexual experiences for men could be more diverse than believed, and are important for clinicians to consider when working with men who may experience such symptoms.
The full study was published July 24, 2018 in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.
I view the opposite sex from a distance these days , i just cannot tolerate cuddling . I don’t have to deal with screaming in my ear due to PMS or just getting mauled for no reason whatsoever. I also get to take the garbage out whenever i damn well feel like taking it out .
A true worry and stress free life.
Maybe it is time to embrace your GAY side.
I used to experience guilt and sadness after sex when, as a single man, I had sex with women I did not love. As a married man, I feel wonderful after making love with my wife.
4 in 10 stayed long enough to sober up.
I must be one of the 6 in 10 who are satisfied and extremely happy after sex. Maybe it is because the worst sex I ever had was fantastic.
4 in 10 men have been married 20+ years, and this was their annual romp, and, you know…meh.
For me, I get immediately tired, roll over and snore.
After sex is when I feel most motivated to get up and get work done. My wife doesn’t mind that I let her get some sleep while I go get work done for a few hours afterwards. Did the study run into any of those kinds of guys?
You know that is great but if you are so motivated why not indulge a second time with wife.
I suffer narcolepsy with cataplexy after having sex. Well, I don’t really “suffer,” I just sleep it off.
You only suffer when you wake up and see what you had sex with. OH THE PAIN
Stay with me…..Just don’t be here in the morning when I wake up.
When she shouts out another man’s name. I’m sure there’s where the issue lands.
Time to move on or yell another woman’s name when you make it.
Omnia autem animalia sunt tristes, post coitus.
“…all animals are sad after intercourse”
Sometimes it’s just that bad.
“Did I hurt you? No. Well there for a second I thought you moved.”
Lesson learned: Their is a difference between Fu(king and bonding
Well science shows that when fcuking your brain secrets hormones that leads to bonding. It’s the same hormone that women secrete during childbirth to bond them to the new child. So you blew that one big time.
Good choice on your screen name
I wonder how numbers breakdown with men between their married partners and unmarried partners. It would be interesting to know if the feeling of disappointment or sadness is different between the groups. Does infidelity play a role in the negative feelings? Does the belief that they are somehow contradicting their moral understanding cause it? Or is it as common in marital sex as it is in unmarried sex?
This is the consequence of sex without love. When a man loves a woman deeply and she agrees to sleep with him then you don’t get this after sex depression. Sex without love is empty. And the best sex is married sex because there is a deep spiritual bond, not just physical.
Good comment.
What a crock. Spoken like a truly whipped virgin.
.it certainly is a crock .clearly he’s never tagged a strange woman in the seat after a night of drunken revelry
Taking a $50 pill to get an erection to have sex with a woman they aren’t attracted to makes guys sad.
Too bad, I usually jump out of bed for an NFL touchdown celebration type dance.
ME TOO (can I say that anymore)?
premarital sex is depressing because your conscience is telling you that you’re using someone without any commitment
Who gets SAD after sex?! No man I have ever met. Talk about fake news!
Depends on who you wake up with in morning, I guess…I swear…She looked so good through the bottom of a beer glass.
It can be a rude awakening, Chief.
Dont complain you slept with HER!!!!!
No…It was a clear cut case of rape.
She forcefully jumped my bones when I was under duress….Or under her dress…Or whatever….;-)
They are using too much Viagra and Cialis to make up for the bag over her head.
Did this study actually receive funding? This is a phenomenon so old that Galen already had a aphorism for it:
Triste est omne animal post coitum
Worse than the Trumpers, scientists too are getting dumber and dumber.