Orgasmic Disorders

Synonyms

Anorgasmia; Climax disorder; Delayed ejaculation; Female orgasmic disorder; Inhibited ejaculation; Premature ejaculation

Definition

Difficulty reaching or controlling orgasm by a man or woman. The problem may be characterized by an early, delayed, or absence of orgasm.

Introduction

In both the four-stage model of sexual response first proposed by Masters and Johnson (excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution) and the three-stage model later adapted by Kaplan (1995) (desire, arousal, orgasm), orgasm represents a reproductive and psycho-behavioral endpoint. In both models, orgasm follows variable periods of intensifying sexual arousal. Both sexes experience intense pleasure throughout the body during orgasm, a phenomenon mediated by brain regions involved with reward and pleasure. Although in men ejaculation nearly always occurs concomitantly with orgasm, women exhibit no comparable external genital response. Women’s orgasm is signaled by, among other responses, pelvic and...