Low sex drive in women is a common problem -- an estimated 33 percent of U.S. women have low sexual desire. It is the top problem women give for going to sex therapy, according to a researcher.
Laurie Mintz -- associate professor of educational, school and counseling psychology in the Missouri University College of Education -- said drugs to treat low sexual desire may take the focus away from the most common culprits of diminished desire in women, including lack of information on how our bodies work, body image issues, relationship issues and a stressful lifestyle.
"Indeed, research demonstrates that relationship issues are far more important in predicting women's sexual desire than are hormone levels," Mintz said in a statement. "Before women seek medical treatments, they should consider psychological treatment."
In a study, Mintz recruited married women ages 28-65, who said they were uninterested in sexual activity and had them complete questionnaires. Half of the participants were selected randomly to read Mintz's book and perform the exercises, and the other half was the control group.
Mintz's book includes a treatment plan involving chapters on thoughts about sex, how to talk with a partner, the importance of spending time together, ways to touch each other in both erotic and non-erotic ways, how to make time for sex and different ways to make sexual activity exciting and thus, increase women's sexual desire.
The study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, found on average, women who read the book increased their level of sexual desire by almost 30 percent.
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