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The Latest on Sex

Paul Joannides is a research psychoanalyst, author of Guide To Getting It On, and an editor of the American Journal of Sexuality Education. His podcast is at ThePleasureReport.com. See full bio

January 22, 2009

Paul's Sex Term of the Day--SRPE or Sleep-Related Painful Erections

These are erections that occur during sleep but are so painful that they wake the man up. This problem has not been well-studied and may occur more often than is reported. The pain is frequently too severe to simply "shake off" and can result in a serious loss of sleep.

SRPEs seem to occur during REM sleep, just like non-painful sleeping erections.

January 22, 2009

Thoughts about Porn and Young Adults

As I grow closer to receiving the dreaded senior discounts, I never realized that the path to geezerhood was such a slippery slope--even for those of us in fields like psychology and sex therapy. I can finally appreciate that while change is inevitable, staying relevant is not.
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January 21, 2009

Sex in a Sleeping Bag vs. Sex in Outer Space

While most Psychology Today readers have slept in sleeping bags, the chances are good that not many of you have had sex in a sleeping bag--as long as we define "sex" as intercourse only. Read More

January 20, 2009

Three Mistakes Women Make with Their Vulvas

For the 6th edition of my book, I decided to do a chapter titled Vulva Care--Keeping Your Kitty Happy. I was very fortunate to receive the advice of two highly experienced female gynecologists from two different parts of the country--so you might appreciate my surprise when they quite independently mentioned three of the same concerns about the way women treat their vulvas. Read More

January 19, 2009

Paul's Sex Term of the Day: Serosorting

Serosorting is a practice in the gay community where men try to select sexual partners who have the same HIV status as they do. It is a form of risk-reduction where guys who are HIV positive seek out only positive partners, and men who are HIV negative seek out partners who don't have HIV.
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January 19, 2009

The World Record Distance for Ejaculation

A person on a Yahoo forum recently asked, "What's the world record distance for ejaculation?" He had heard it was more than 4 meters, but couldn't find any verification in the book of Guinness World Records.

The answer was supplied by a fellow Yahoo member, JustJoe3:

December 14, 2008

Sex on Star Trek--From Pon Farr to Omax

Science fiction often has a better read on the pulse of the human unconscious than the romance novel, yet we assume that the romance novel owns the highway when it comes to sex. Read More

December 12, 2008

Beagle Eats $3,500 Royalty Check

"Tidy" is not a word to describe my office when I am working on a new edition of my book on sex. Read More

December 1, 2008

SSRIs and Male Fertility--Even More Reason for Concern

SSRIs are a class of widely used antidepressants which include Prozac, Lexapro, Luvox, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft.

In my last blog entry, I talked about the possible impact of SSRIs on male fertility and male sexuality. I've since been able to communicate with one of the authors of the study that found DNA damage in the sperm of a number of research subjects who were given SSRIs. Here's how they did the study:
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November 28, 2008

The Possible Impact of SSRIs on Male Sexual Function and Fertility

While I've never been impressed with the argument that SSRIs work a whole lot better than placebo, I am becoming impressed with the list of SSRI-related side effects. I'm also willing to bet that your healthcare provider did not discuss how serious the sexual side effects can be or that they might be potentially irreversible. Read More

Sex Basics

Sex is the most profound and intimate way to express your love for someone. Different people enjoy and pursue sex in different forms—as the pioneering sex researcher Alfred Kinsey put it, the only universal in human sexuality is variability itself. But within the universe of intimacy and pleasure that sex affords is a lot of room for error.

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