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For full details of how to become fully orgasmic click here: Overcoming anorgasmiaThe nature of female orgasm problems has changed as times have gone by. In the early days of sexual therapy, the major issue was either not achieving an orgasm at all, or it was about "having the right kind orgasm" -- as defined by Freud, that is to say, vaginal versus clitoral. (A debate which still rages....) Even now, however, the triggers for orgasm are not fully understood, and neither are the reasons why some women find it very easy to achieve orgasm and others find it difficult, or even impossible. One of the reasons for this is undoubtedly the fact that in most cases there is a very large number of factors contributing to anorgasmia: these can include both anatomical factors, the sociocultural environment in which a woman was brought up and the one in which she currently lives, interpersonal issues around her relationship with her partner, and even the impact of drugs being taken for other medical conditions. In therapeutic terms, female anorgasmia may be seen as equivalent to retarded ejaculation - read about it here www.delayed-ejaculation.com - or male orgasmic disorder. Probably because there is such a wide range of factors contributing to the etiology of orgasmic problems, there is an almost equally wide variety of therapeutic interventions -- these include psychodynamic therapy, relationship-based psychotherapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Obviously when a woman presents for the treatment of orgasmic disorder -- to put it simply, the inability to reach climax -- the first question that should be asked is: why might this condition have arisen, and the second is: how can the problem be resolved? Of course, in reality things are never so simple, because the sociological and cultural context of anorgasmia needs to be at the centre of any treatment methodology. So, for example, the therapist needs to question what orgasm actually means to a woman, and for that matter, to her partner. It is necessary to consider whether her lack of orgasm is a problem that actually solves some kind of difficulty for the couple. When you consider complexities such as the fact that many women don't actually have a sense of ownership over their bodies, or their main focus during sex is to please their partner, the potential complexity of this issue becomes clear. In addition, an orgasm is a subjective experience in the mind, but it's accompanied by physiological changes both in the pelvic area in general and the vagina in particular. The key factor that most women mention when they describe having an orgasm is the release of tension which has gradually built up over a period of increasing sexual arousal and excitement -- although this does not come close to describing the subjective experience of orgasm and the pleasure that may accompany it. We know that physiologically, the entire body is involved in orgasm, with rhythmic contractions in the uterus, the vagina, and the rectal sphincter which may persist for between 5 and 30 contractions depending on the intensity of the experience. But in addition, the muscles of the face, the abdomen, and other parts of the body may contract or spasm; and there are other physiological changes such as flushing of the skin and sweating. Controversy still exists about the relative importance of the vagina, cervix, uterus and clitoris in promoting orgasm, which seems to be another factor why it's difficult to make a definitive statement on the cause of anorgasmia -- there's clearly no single cause, and since every woman presents with a different combination of antecedents and circumstances perhaps one should not really expect a straightforward treatment methodology to be obvious. Nonetheless, orgasmic problems are the most common sexually reported problem in women, with up to a quarter of all women reporting that in the past year they have had difficulty in reaching orgasm or not been able to achieve it at all. Other studies have, admittedly, reported a lower prevalence of orgasmic disorder in the female population -- affecting around 10% of all women, but even so it's a very significant proportion of the female population who appear to be having difficulty in this respect. It is common to distinguish between primary and secondary anorgasmia. Primary anorgasmia means a woman has never had an orgasm, while secondary anorgasmia means that a woman has trouble reaching an orgasm in some circumstances -- they may be infrequent, or they may occur only under certain specific conditions. (In this context it's important to recall that very few women actually reach an orgasm during intercourse, and although statistics on this vary it's generally agreed that women who regularly orgasm during intercourse account for no more than 15% of the female population. This could not, therefore, be regarded as a pathological kind of anorgasmia - it's normal.) Obviously a woman's capacity to experience orgasm is influenced by number of things, including neurological, anatomical, physiological and social and psychological factors. None of these seems to be an absolute requirement for anorgasmia, not indeed a primary requirement. What complicates things considerably is that women themselves may not be able to identify when they have achieved orgasm: reports delivered during therapy sessions from women who claim they've reached orgasm may, on further analysis, reveal nothing of the sort! So how are we to make sense of this most mysterious of sexual dysfunctions? Let's start at he beginning - the neural pathways which contribute to climax. There are several areas of the body which are important to the experience of orgasm: the areas most often connected with the experience of orgasm are obviously the clitoris and the vagina, although it's likely that the labia also contribute to sexual arousal. All of these areas are richly innervated with nerves (and have the quality of vaso-congestive capacity). The pubococcygeal muscle runs through the whole area, including around the lower portion of the vagina. It's richly supplied with nerve endings and can generate feelings of pleasure when stimulated. This may be one reason why the condition of the PC muscle has an effect on orgasmic capacity. And within the vagina itself is an area known as the G spot, about 1 or 2 inches inside on the upper wall. The G spot appears to be particularly sensitive to stimulation, and promotes orgasm in many women. Interestingly, some women can actually reach climax with no spinal cord connection between genitals and brain: this has been demonstrated in paraplegics where the spinal column is severed. Also, women may experience orgasm during sleep with no genital stimulation at all. (Recent research, however, suggests that the pudendal nerve and the pelvic nerve complex both play a role in orgasm: several different nerve pathways are involved in sexual response, including the hypogastric nerve and maybe even the vagus nerve, and since some of these pathways do not pass through the spinal column, this may account for both the observations noted above in paraplegic women: it certainly adds substance to the idea that the achievement of orgasm through vaginal stimulation alone is possible.
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