Assessment of sexual functioning: sexual history taking for health care practitioners.

It is important for clinicians to inquire about sexual functioning as part of routine mental and physical health care. General guidelines for taking a skillful and sensitive sexual history are given, including ways to initiate discussions and make the patient feel more at ease. In addition, a sample comprehensive sexual history is presented.

Sexual dysfunction secondary to depressive disorders.

Human sexuality has received less systematic study and is less well understood than other aspects of mental and physical health. Although depression itself, apart from medication, is generally believed to be associated with sexual dysfunction, the few existing studies report wide discrepancies with regard to frequency, gender, and quality of sexual dysfunction. Loss of libido is frequently and consistently associated with major depression.