The British Journal of Psychiatry 133: 339-346 (1978)
© 1978 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Combination of hormonal and psychological treatment for female sexual unresponsiveness: a comparative study
A Carney, J Bancroft and A Mathews
Thirty-two couples with the presenting problem of female sexual
unresponsiveness were treated in a controlled study using a balanced
factorial design. Treatment involved a combination of drug therapy and
counselling. Half the subjects received testosterone and half diazepam,
half received weekly and half monthly counselling. They were assessed
before treatment, at the end of treatment and at six months follow-up.
Those receiving testosterone did significantly better on a number of
behavioural and attitudinal measures than the diazepam group. There were no
notable differences in outcome between the two counselling regimes. There
were no undesirable side-effects with the testosterone. Further work is
needed to establish the indications for testosterone therapy for
unresponsive women.