COURTESY OF ANTHONY BOGAERT
WAITING TO BE RECOGNIZED
has been fraught with controversy,
particularly in the medical world.
“In the medical community,
many people have just assumed
that all asexuals can be diagnosed
with a sexual disorder, most commonly Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder,” said Bogaert, who
teaches at Canada’s Brock University. “It’s very problematic.”
Asexual activists say the conflation of asexuality and HSDD
stems from a broad and vague
definition of the disorder found in
the 1994 fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders, the so-called
“psychiatry bible,” which provides
standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.
The DSM-4 definition describes HSDD as causing “marked
distress or interpersonal difficulties” due to a lack or absence
of “sexual fantasies and desire
for sexual activity.” Considered
a “sexual dysfunction,” HSDD
has commonly been treated with
therapy and medication.
David Jay, founder of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), says that red flags
were raised after “regular reports”
of HSDD misdiagnoses began
cropping up in the ace community.
HUFFINGTON
08.25.13
“In the medical community,
many people have just assumed
that all asexuals can be diagnosed
with a sexual disorder …
It’s very problematic.”
“We needed to prevent that
from happening,” he said.
In 2008, Jay and his AVEN
team began organizing a task force
to work on revising the HSDD
definition to allow exception for
asexuality. Jay says that some
members of the medical and scientific community — including
Bogaert, who has been a central
figure in the debate — have been
important allies in this fight.
Sexologist
and professor
Anthony
Bogaert has
been a vocal
champion
for asexuals
throughout
the past
decade.