For those that have never had a low sex drive, there may be some errors in how they perceive this particular multifaceted illness. Virile men may think it is something women say after having too many headaches. A person who for whatever reason feels sex is less important than other life pursuits may feel low sex drive is normal. Some may think it never affects men or only affects men. This article will strive to set straight the common misunderstanding of this condition that even the Food and Drug Administration claims is a real-life disease.

It is an excuse to get out of sex
Occasionally is still heard the joke about the wife that feigns a headache when her husband starts asking for sex. Sometimes the joke is simply “the number one cause of low libido is saying ‘I do’”. Loss of sex drive is a real medical condition, or minimally a symptom of a greater medical problem. There could be a few that would use it as an excuse to get out of sex, but more often than not, there is truth in the statement “I don’t feel like it tonight, honey”, even if “tonight” is every night.

It only affects women…
Men have been raised in many societies for many decades that to be manly means to have a virile libido and many conquests. They may either believe or at least tell themselves that only a woman would or could refuse sex. This is simply not the case. For many reasons, men have loss of desire, motivation or ability to enjoy the act of sex.

It only affects men…
A common misconception is that women always have some hormone of some type running through their body. Knowing this may lead some to believe a woman can always be ready if she wants to. Stories abound, of nymphomaniac women wearing out their own male concubines to the point that he can no longer perform for reasons of exhaustion or hunger. Many more women and their would-be lovers will tell anyone this is just not the case.

It is normal
While there is no way to standardize what a normal libido level is, there are theories upon theories of how high any given persons sex drive should be at any given time. This is a whopper of a misunderstanding. Libido is very individual, as are many interests.

Common misconceptions surrounding what normal libido include:

Men are at their optimum at 18
Women are at their optimum at 40
Women are always ready during pregnancy
Women are never ready during pregnancy
Men are always ready
Men are more ready when the threat of pregnancy is alleviated
Men and women are people, and people are highly individual. Everyone has their own set of goals and plans for achieving them. Some make sex a priority while others simply do not. Low libido, real low libido, has specific symptoms to alert someone when something may be off. Experiencing weakness, depression, and weight gain that occur quickly with no other causes along with low libido dictate that it is time to see the doctor and get an accurate diagnosis.