There are a million reasons to occasionally not feel in the mood. This can include everything from work stress to feeling tired, and everything in between. 2020 was the literal definition of a dumpster fire, and 2021 hasn’t shown much improvement. Life has been a lot lately, and it’s understandable if the thought of getting it on, is kind of turning you off.
While those feelings are normal, a complete lack of libido or absence of sexual fantasy might be caused by Hypoactive Sexual Disorder (HSDD). However, MINDCURE, a company dedicated to developing innovative ways to support mental health and healing, thinks that treatment is possible with a little help from some MDMA. This program, known as The Desire Project, will pioneer psychedelic-based treatment programs specifically for HSDD.
What is HSDD?
HSDD is a common disorder that’s characterized by a persistent lack of sexual desire which leads to emotional distress — neither of which are attributable to a relationship issue or medical condition. It affects 10% of adult women and 14% of premenopausal adult women, all of whom report a state of distress stemming from low desire. For scale, that’s an estimated 9.5 million premenopausal women in the US.
According to Julia K Warnock, MD, Ph.D.: “Sexual dysfunctions in women have strong…associations with low feelings of physical and emotional satisfaction and low feelings of happiness. Thus, female HSDD can greatly impact on quality of life.”
How Can MDMA Therapy Help With HSDD?
MDMA therapy has been demonstrated in clinical trials to be effective in overcoming a number of ailments. It can help people recover from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by targeting fear-related brain pathways. It can also improve fear memory extinction, modify fear memory reconsolidation, and boost social behavior in animal models. So how does this apply to HSDD in women?
“We know that sexual health contributes to overall wellbeing and that studies relating to HSDD suggest that female desire has deep roots in the mind,” explains MINDCURE President and CEO, Kelsey Ramsden. “Women’s desire issues have not been adequately addressed to date, and we believe that treatment incorporating MDMA and psychotherapy has real promise as it may target those roots of desire in the mind and unlock healing for women lacking desire.”
After dedicating six months to developing The Desire Project, MINDCURE’s goal is to utilize MDMA-assisted psychotherapy to alleviate women’s fear factors, which significantly impact female-related sexual disorders that are not currently treated with available medications.
Dr. Joel Raskin, MINDCURE’s Chief Medical Officer, shares Ramsden’s excitement over the idea of an effective clinical treatment for female HSDD. “During my decades as a psychiatrist clinician and researcher, I’ve seen first-hand the limitations of existing treatments,” he shares. “This is an exciting opportunity to find a potentially more effective and better-tolerated treatment for women affected by this disorder.”
The “Desire Project” team at MINDCURE is made up of some of the world’s top experts on female sexual desire and psychedelics, including:
- Dr. Jennifer Mitchell – lead author of MAPS MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD study
- Dr. Anita Clayton – Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences and Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Virginia
- Dr. Cindy Meston – director of Female Sexual Psychophysiology Laboratory, University of Texas in Austin (one of the few labs in the world exclusively dedicated to the study of women’s sexual health)
- Dr. Robert Pyke – leader of the Addyi® project (drug used in treating the symptoms of HSDD through Phases II and III)
- Dr. Sherry Walling – practicing licensed clinical psychologist; master’s degree in theology, emphasis in trauma
