Female sexual interest/arousal disorder: history of diagnostic considerations and their implications for clinical practice.

Low sexual desire, also called Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder or Sexual Interest/ Arousal Disorder, is a type of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD). This article reviews diagnostic considerations, a historical overview of how current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria was developed, including a crossover from Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) to DSM-5, diagnostic considerations in pharmaceutical treatments for low female sexual desire as well as the predominant sexual response cycle models that DSM-5 criteria was built on. It provides a historical overview of the two majorly divergent camps of perspective, namely the DSM-5 and the ICSM/ ICD classification systems, their theoretical and research basis. It concludes that female sexual desire is a rather complex phenomenon and a mechanism set in motion by intricate hormonal, emotional, relational and biological processes. Psychiatrists are well-suited in both recognizing, diagnosing and treating female sexual desire problems. Authors of this review encourage flexibility and a patient focused approach in clinical practice, which would both require utilizing a biopsychosocial perspective and the use of a multi-specialty team.