Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Seasons of Grace

Home
Catholic
How to Improve Women’s Sex Drive (HINT: It’s Not Addyi)

How to Improve Women’s Sex Drive (HINT: It’s Not Addyi)

Last updated on: August 18, 2015 at 10:55 pm by Kathy Schiffer

How to Improve Women’s Sex Drive (HINT: It’s Not Addyi) 2015-08-18T22:55:12-05:00 Kathy Schiffer

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Are you tired of prime time television commercials advertising drugs for erectile dysfunction? Well, move over, gentlemen–because the ladies are about to catch up! Today the Food and Drug Administration approved Addyi (pronounced ADD’ee), a prescription drug produced by Sprout Pharmaceutical which promises to increase sexual desire in women.

But I’ve gotta tell you: It ain’t gonna work.

Image: Pixabay

For starters, there are the health warnings on the box–which are substantial, warning patients of serious side effects including dangerously low blood pressure and fainting, especially when used in combination with alcohol or with certain other common medications including antifungals used to treat yeast infections. Other common side effects include nausea, drowsiness and dizziness.

The side effects are so dramatic that doctors will only be authorized to prescribe Addyi if they’ve completed an online certification process and passed a test. Doctors will be required to warn patients of side effects. Pharmacists, who must also complete licensing requirements and pass a test, must remind patients of the dangers if the drug is combined with alcohol.

And unlike the little blue pill for men, Viagra, Addyi won’t work if it’s taken just an hour before sexual activity. No–A woman who wants to increase her sexual appetite will need to take the drug for weeks or months before noticing any difference in her libido.

Because of the health risks, the delayed response, and the need for strict controls, many–including physicians and sex therapists–have circulated a petition urging the FDA to reject the company’s bid for approval, as they had twice before in 2010 and 2013.

According to the Associated Press:

The search for a pill to treat women’s sexual difficulties has been something of a holy grail for the pharmaceutical industry. It was pursued and later abandoned by Pfizer, Bayer and Procter & Gamble, among others. But drugs that act on blood flow, hormones and other biological functions all proved ineffective.

Addyi, known generically as flibanserin, is the first drug that acts on brain chemicals that affect mood and appetite.

Women and their doctors will have to decide whether the drug’s modest benefits warrant taking a psychiatric pill on a daily basis.

And added to the side effects, the drug suffers from abysmally low success rates. According to the New York Times:

In one trial, for instance, women who took the drug had an average of 4.4 “satisfying sexual experiences” a month, compared with 3.7 for women getting a placebo and 2.7 before the study began. The drug did not increase desire more than a placebo when measured by a daily diary, but did do so modestly when measured by a monthly questionnaire.

But I’d like to suggest that despite the severe warnings and the meager results, there is another, more important reason why Addyi won’t achieve the desired goal.

Women are smart.

Women have the most to lose in a casual sexual relationship, or one in which her partner (hopefully, aka her husband) is not gentle and loving and self-donative toward her.

There’s nothing particularly sexy about two bodies rubbing up against one another for mutual relief of sexual need. I mean, the couple may have some kind of fun; they may achieve orgasm together; but that kind of purely kinesthetic relationship is not deeply satisfying and leads to unrest rather than fulfillment.

Dr. Gregory Popcak, in his excellent book Holy Sex: A Catholic Guide to Toe-Curling, Mind-Blowing, Infallible Loving, explains the difference between what he calls “holy sex” and eroticism–which isn’t really “sex” at all. To contrast the deeply intimate sexuality in a loving marriage with the cheap thrills of a casual erotic relationship, Dr. Popcak stands the two side-by-side:

Holy Sex = Very pleasurable. Eroticism = Very pleasurable.

Holy Sex = Driven by intimacy and arousal. Eroticism = Driven solely by arousal.

Holy Sex = Overcomes shame. Eroticism = Causes shame.

Holy Sex = Works for the good of the other. Eroticism = Uses the other.

Holy Sex = Welcomes children. Eroticism = Fears children.

Holy Sex = Shares the whole self. Eroticism = Withholds the self.

Holy Sex = More joyful and vibrant with time. Eroticism = More stagnant and boring with time (like a drug)

Holy Sex = Gives life and health. Eroticism = Brings disease and death.

Holy Sex goes on to discuss the five great powers of holy sex, and the anatomy of infallible lovemaking. Dr. Popcak shines light on common sexual problems for women and for men, and offers frank advice for effective foreplay, overcoming infertility, dealing with infidelity, sexual addiction, and when to seek help (and from whom).

Is there ever a time when a woman’s sexual urges are reduced? Well, yes–and of course, the hormonal smorgasbord which follows labor and delivery is one time that comes to mind. But for most women, the key to unlocking true sexual fulfillment is a life-long committed relationship in which she feels cherished and safe, a partner who wants what is best for her and not only what feels good to him.

Addyi will hit store shelves on October 17. Dr. Gregory Popcak’s Holy Sex is available today from Amazon.

Marriage

Sexuality

Previous Post

August 16, 2015

A Paraprosdokian That Christians Can Live By

Next Post

August 20, 2015 Can a Catholic Sign a Prenuptial Agreement?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #Synod14 Abortion Abstinence Abuse Addiction Adoption Advent Adventure Advertising Aging Agnosticism All Saints Day All Souls Day Amish Anathema Angels Anglican Animals Annulment Annunciation Apocalypse Apologetics Apostles Apostleship of the Sea Apparitions Archangels Archbishop Cordileone Archbishop Dolan Archbishop Vigneron Archeology Architecture Art Art Buchwald Ash Wednesday Assisted Suicide Astronauts Atheism Athletes Babies Baptism Beatification Beauty Bible Biochemistry Bioethics Birds Bishop Lori Bishops Blasphemy Books Canon Law Canonization Capital Punishment Cardinal Burke Cardinal Dolan Cardinal George Caritas Catechesis Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Catholic Education Catholic Higher Education Catholic Social Teaching Celibacy Cemeteries Character Charity Chastity Cheapskate Christian Unity Christmas Churches Civil Rights Cloning Comedy Communion of Saints Community Kitchens Confession Confirmation Conscience Consequences Consistory Constitution Contraception Conversion Cooking Councils of the Church Creativity Criminal Justice Cristero War Crucifixion Crystal Cathedral Culture Death Death and Dying Death Penalty Department of Health and Human Services Diaconate Dictatorship of Relativism Dignity Disability Discrimination Dissidence Divorce Doctors of the Church Early Church Fathers Easter Economics Ecumenism Education Encyclicals Environmentalism Episcopal Church Eucharist Euthanasia Evangelism Evangelists Evangelization Evolution Excuses Facebook Faith Families Family Fashion Fasting Fatherhood Federal Government Feminism Fiction Film First Amendment First Communion For Greater Glory Forgiveness Free Speech Friends Friendship Gender Discrimination Germany Gnosticism Good Friday Government Grace Greed Gregorian Calendar Happiness Health Heaven Heresy History Holidays Holiness Hollywood Holy Land Holy Saturday Holy Spirit Holy Week Holy Year Home Sweet Home Homosexuality Hope Humanism Humility Humor Imagination Immaculate Conception Immigration Impulsivity In Vitro Fertilization Incarnation Indulgences Infallibility Internet Islam Italy Jerusalem Jesus Judaism Justice Kathleen Sebelius Labor Movement LCWR Lent Life Literature Liturgy Lourdes Love Magi Marketing Marriage Martyrdom Martyrs Mary Mass Media Medical Ethics Mexico Michigan Miracles Missionaries Modernism Modesty Monks Monothelitism Motherhood Movies Mushrooms Music Muslim Mystery Mysticism Mythology Nativity Natural Law Nature New Evangelization New Media New Year New Year's Resolutions Nostalgia Obscenity Occult Old Testament Origen Orthodox Orvieto Pallium Papacy Parenting Patience Patriarch Bartholomew Patriotism Peace Peace and Justice Penitence Pentecost People Persecution Philosophy Poetry Political activism Political Correctness Politics Polls Pop Culture Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope John XXIII Pope Paul VI Pope St. Pius X Pope Urban VII Population Prayer Preaching Prejudice Pride Priesthood Pro-Life Protestantism Psychology Purgatory Queenship of Mary Racism Rape Real Presence Reconciliation Reformation Relics Religious Religious Liberty Reliquary Renewal Reproductive Technology Resurrection Rights Romance Rome Royalty Sacraments Sacred Heart Saints Satanism Science Science Fiction Scripture Seal of Confession Secularism Seniors September 11 Seventy Times Seven Sexuality Sharks Sin Smoking Social Communications Social Justice Social Networking Social Sciences Space Exploration Spirituality Sports St. Luke St. Patrick's Day St. Paul St. Peter St. Teresa of Avila Stations of the Cross Steve Jobs Superstition Supreme Court Symbolism Synod Technology Teen Rebellion Television Terrorism Thankfulness Thanksgiving Theology Think This, Not That Tobit Toilets Toys Tradition Traditions Transplants Travel Trinity Twitter U.S. Air Force Uncategorized United Nations USCCB Valentine Vatican Vatican Archives Vatican Blogfest Virtue Vocations Where We Pray White Heart Women World Day of Social Communications World Meeting of Families World News World Youth Day Worship Writing Year of Consecrated Life Year of Faith Year of Mercy Youth

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who is known for his wisdom and built a temple?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul Moses Solomon David