Depression, anorexia, childbirth affect sex life

Depression, anorexia, childbirth affect sex life
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Childbirth and the psychiatricdisorders anorexia and depression can affect a woman's sexlife, but in different ways, a small study suggests.
Research has shown that women with mental healthconditions, including major depression and eating disorders,tend to report more problems with their sex life than otherwomen do. The same has been found in studies of new mothers.
But the nature of this sexual dysfunction has not beenclear.
In the new study, researchers found that women with eitheranorexia or depression typically had sex more frequently thannew mothers did. They were, however, more likely to reporthaving "problems" during sex, according to findings publishedin the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
This suggests that anorexia and depression have similareffects on a woman's sex life, while childbirth has a differentsort of impact, according to the researchers, led by Dr.Frances A. Carter of the Christchurch School of Medicine andHealth Sciences, Otago University in New Zealand.
The study results are based on questionnaire responses from76 women who had taken part in three previous, separate studiesand included 10 women with anorexia; 24 women with majordepression; and 42 women who'd given birth within the past twomonths. All of the women were married or in stablerelationships.
Overall, Carter's team found that 80 percent and 79 percentof women with anorexia or depression, respectively, said they'dhad sex in the past two weeks, compared with only half of thenew mothers.
On the other hand, none of the women in the postnatal groupsaid they had any problems during sex, while roughly one thirdof those with anorexia or depression said they did.
The fact that new mothers had sex less often is notsurprising, according to Carter and his colleagues. However,the reported lack of any sexual difficulties is "moreoptimistic" than the results obtained from other studies, which"suggested that sexual difficulties were the norm."
The researchers add that their findings should beconsidered preliminary, in part because the study group was sosmall, particularly the number of women with anorexia.
SOURCE: International Journal of Eating Disorders, November2007.