Sexual relationship disorder
Encyclopedia
Sexual relationship disorder is a disorder where a person has difficulties in forming or maintaining a sexual relationship because of their gender identity
or sexual orientation
. The World Health Organization
lists sexual relationship disorder in the ICD-10
, under "Psychological and behavioural disorders associated with sexual development and orientation". The WHO describes it thus:
The WHO applies the following note to the entirety of part F66: "Sexual orientation by itself is not to be regarded as a disorder."
A significant number of men and women experience conflict surrounding homosexual expression within a mixed-orientation marriage
. Therapy may include helping the client feel more comfortable and accepting of same-sex feelings and to explore ways of incorporating same-sex and opposite-sex feelings into life patterns. Although a strong homosexual identity was associated with difficulties in marital satisfaction, viewing the same-sex activities as compulsive facilitated commitment to the marriage and to monogamy.
Other LGB people may want to have a family with an opposite-sex spouse. They may seek to change their sexual orientation
. Research from the 1970s showed that a minority of patients who undergo therapy ultimately married someone of the opposite sex, though it is not clear what role therapy contributed to the marriage. Recent research does not permit any attribution of marital outcomes to therapy, though it appears that sexual orientation identity reconstruction can help clients develop a heterosexual orientation identity.
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
or sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. The World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
lists sexual relationship disorder in the ICD-10
ICD-10
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision is a medical classification list for the coding of diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances, and external causes of injury or diseases, as maintained by the...
, under "Psychological and behavioural disorders associated with sexual development and orientation". The WHO describes it thus:
The gender identity or sexual orientation (heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual) is responsible for difficulties in forming or maintaining a relationship with a sexual partner.
The WHO applies the following note to the entirety of part F66: "Sexual orientation by itself is not to be regarded as a disorder."
A significant number of men and women experience conflict surrounding homosexual expression within a mixed-orientation marriage
Mixed-orientation marriage
A mixed-orientation marriage is a marriage in which one of the partners is heterosexual and the other is bisexual or homosexual.- Motivations:Some cite spiritual reasons for getting married...
. Therapy may include helping the client feel more comfortable and accepting of same-sex feelings and to explore ways of incorporating same-sex and opposite-sex feelings into life patterns. Although a strong homosexual identity was associated with difficulties in marital satisfaction, viewing the same-sex activities as compulsive facilitated commitment to the marriage and to monogamy.
Other LGB people may want to have a family with an opposite-sex spouse. They may seek to change their sexual orientation
Sexual orientation change efforts
Sexual orientation change efforts are methods that aim to eliminate a same-sex sexual orientation. They may include behavioral techniques, cognitive behavioral techniques , psychoanalytic techniques, medical approaches, religious and spiritual approaches.The longstanding consensus of the...
. Research from the 1970s showed that a minority of patients who undergo therapy ultimately married someone of the opposite sex, though it is not clear what role therapy contributed to the marriage. Recent research does not permit any attribution of marital outcomes to therapy, though it appears that sexual orientation identity reconstruction can help clients develop a heterosexual orientation identity.
See also
- Ego-dystonic sexual orientationEgo-dystonic sexual orientationEgo-dystonic sexual orientation is an ego-dystonic condition characterized by having a sexual orientation or an attraction that is at odds with one's idealized self-image, causing anxiety and a desire to change one's orientation or become more comfortable with one's sexual...
- Homosexuality and psychologyHomosexuality and psychologyPsychology was one of the first disciplines to study homosexuality as a discrete phenomenon. Prior to and throughout most of the 20th century, common standard psychology viewed homosexuality in terms of pathological models as a mental illness...
- Mixed-orientation marriageMixed-orientation marriageA mixed-orientation marriage is a marriage in which one of the partners is heterosexual and the other is bisexual or homosexual.- Motivations:Some cite spiritual reasons for getting married...