Sad After Sex? It's Not Uncommon

A new report on Postcoital Dysphoria - known by the initials PCD - shows that the affliction, formerly assumed to be mostly experienced by women, is also common among men, QUT Health reports.

The paper originated from QUT researchers Joel Maczkowiack, who is a student, and Robert Schweitzer, a professor. The researchers' paper, "Postcoital Dysphoria: Prevalence and Correlates Among Males," appeared in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, the QUT article said.

The study surveyed just over 1,200 men from a number of countries and found that 41% of men had suffered from PCD at some point in their lives. About 20% had experienced it within the past month. But for 4% of the men surveyed, it's practically a part of their lives.

PCD includes feelings of dissatisfaction and distance, the researchers said, with some men characterizing it as a sensation of not wanting further physical contact after sex, a wish to be by themselves, a feeling of sadness or irascibility, or an emotional sensation of blankness.

Though reports on the paper said nothing about the prevalence of gay participants in the study and suggested that the research essentially assumed that the partners in question were heterosexual, the main finding was that PCD is not uncommon among the male gender. That in itself is a departure from the way the phenomenon had previously been understood.

Schweitzer spoke to this, pointing to "assumptions" that he said "are pervasive within masculine sub-culture and include that males always desire and experience sex as pleasurable.

"The experience of PCD contradicts these dominant cultural assumptions about the male experience sexual activity and of the resolution phase," the professor added.

The upshot? If you find yourself miserable or out of sorts after sex, you can take heart in knowing it's not just you. It's a thing.