Post-sex blues overtake a third of women

Sydney: You don't get to hear of post-sex blues often, but a third of women experience it at some point.

Postcoital dysphoria or the experience of negative feelings following an otherwise satisfactory copulation takes the shape of melancholy and is fairly widespread, says a new study.

"While 32.9 percent of women reported experiencing symptoms of postcoital dysphoria at least a little of the time in their life...10 percent reported experiencing the symptoms some of the time or most of the time," said associate professor Robert Schweitzer, who led the study.

"Under normal circumstances the...period just after sex, elicits sensations of well-being, along with psychological and physical relaxation," said Schweitzer from Queensland University of Technology School of Psychology and Counselling.

"However, individuals who experience postcoital dysphoria may express their immediate feelings after sexual intercourse in terms of melancholy, tearfulness, anxiety, irritability or feeling of restlessness," said Schweitzer, according to a Queensland University statement.

"It has generally been thought that women who have experienced sexual abuse associate later sexual encounters with the trauma of the abuse along with sensations of shame, guilt, punishment and loss," concluded Schweitzer.