Constant arousal of the genitals, continuous urge for sexual relief, permanent feeling of near-orgasm – sounds a little bit like being 16, doesn’t it?
But for sufferers of the rare condition known as persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD), this is all too serious.
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According to Amanda McLaughlin (below), a 23-year-old from the US who opened up about her condition on the BBC3 program Living Differently, if she doesn’t get sexual relief, the pain in her legs and pelvis can be crippling.
“You’d think that you could have sex and it would just go away, but it doesn’t,” she said.
“Sometimes I will be crying and begging him to have sex with me just to relieve some of the pressure that I have down there.”
The condition has also created significant social problems for McLaughlin.
She first noticed her persistent sexual urges when she was 13 but didn’t receive a diagnosis until she was 19. During her teenage years, her family simply thought she was highly promiscuous.
“When she first became sexually active she was having sex a lot,” her mother, Victoria, told BBC3. “My whole family just thought she was a whore. I doubted her completely – I still feel guilty.”
Although the rarity of the condition means there are few treatments available to sufferers of PGAD, Dr Priyanka Gunta, an assistant professor of neurology at Michigan University, is confident McLaughlin’s symptoms can be eased.
“I don’t have a quick cure for this but we’re going to be trying a few different therapies. I’m very hopeful that we can get her functioning better.”
