If you are suffering from PSSD and are feeling depressed or suicidal, please remember that you are not alone. You matter. Your body matters, your mind matters, your sexuality matters. What happened to you was not your fault. What happened to you is not okay. You do not need to simply “get over it.” Working together we can offer each other support, fight for recognition, and advocate for research into an effective treatment. Please view our Activism page under “What We Do” to get involved in the PSSD community.

If you are interested in trauma-informed therapy specifically for people suffering PSSD consider contacting Yassie Pirani here

We are working to alert mental health services of PSSD and educate mental health counselors on the complications of helping those with PSSD.

Losing your sexuality is an intensely traumatic experience. It has strong negative impacts on relationships, sense of self, and quality of life. Equally debilitating can be the frequently accompanying symptoms of emotional and cognitive dysfunction, a common variant of which can be the removal of the ability to feel romantic love.

People with PSSD often find it difficult to communicate the depth of their loss to those who have never experienced it, giving rise to feelings of alienation. In addition, both loved ones and healthcare professions are usually ignorant of PSSD and attribute the symptoms to psychological factors rather than identifying the cause as having an underlying pathophysiology. They may downplay the severity of the loss, telling the patient that “sex isn’t everything” and it is necessary for them to “accept it and move on.”

On top of these challenges, PSSD is often accompanied by non-sexual symptoms such as anhedonia (loss of motivation and enjoyment in life), insomnia, poor sleep quality, cognitive fog and blunted emotions. These symptoms can intensify feelings of helplessness and make it even more difficult for people with PSSD to effectively advocate for themselves.

Due to the stigma associated with sexual dysfunction, pre-existing mental health challenges, the difficulty of verbalizing their experiences, accompanying cognitive symptoms and potential dismissal from healthcare professionals, people with PSSD may stay silent about their condition for many years. Others have resorted to suicide.

Supporting people with PSSD will require:

• rapid awareness-raising about the existence of PSSD

• dismantling the stigma of discussing sexuality with healthcare professionals

• an end to the all-too-frequent disbelief of reports of PSSD and the common dismissal of its debilitating impacts

• Educating mental health counselors in the particular trauma experienced by people with PSSD

• Investment in treatment research

This condition is heavily under-reported and under-researched. Together we can change that.