Persistent, spontaneous orgasms rare, but painfully real

October 20, 2:14 PMOffbeat News ExaminerBroderick Perkins

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"Grey's Anatomy" writers didn't invent Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome (PSAS) to spice up their ratings.

The dramatization was based on a rare, but real condition in women that causes spontaneous orgasms by the dozens.

And if you think that could be a real hoot, as depicted by a recent Saturday Night Live skit, guess again.

You'd be better off with a related, but also rare condition at the other end of the spectrum -- women who can literally think themselves into climaxing.

PSAS, also called Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD) is described as "persistent...insistent and unwanted genital arousal that is unaccompanied by conscious feelings of sexual desire or subjective arousal...Orgasm does not result in resolving the genital arousal. The feelings of genital arousal are perceived as distressing, distracting and worrisome," according to the PSAS Support group.

(Some men suffer a similar unwanted and prolonged arousal called Priapism, an engorged and erect penis lasting for more than four hours, a condition considered a medical emergency.)

PSAS feelings can persist for days, weeks or months resulting in dozens, even hundreds of unwanted orgasms in a single day.

Women afflicted say there's no joy in unwanted sexual arousal and often avoid the things that can trigger the next orgasm including, plane, car and mobile phone vibrations, visual arousal and pressure against the genitals -- even going to the toilet.

Feelings range from tingling and throbbing to a full-baked Meg-Ryan When-Harry-Met-Sally outburst.

The result is stress and anxiety, which, ironically, also trigger orgasms and create a vicious circle.

Fairly new, PSAS comes with no known cause or cure.

Other end of the spectrum

Likewise for the ability of at least one woman, known only as "Traci" who has become the object of study by Dr. Barry R. Komisaruk at the Center for Advanced Imaging at Rutgers-Newark University -- not that she wants a cause or a cure.

Traci, can, well, think herself to orgasm -- at will, according to "The Woman Who Could Think Herself Off" in Playboy Magazine's November issue.

This isn't Playboy fiction, but a real story about noted research in pain relief.

Traci's ability is being used to map the brain and explore the neurology of orgasm.

Komisaruk's research has found that pain and pleasure light up the same parts of the brain and that orgasm can increase the threshold for pain in women.

The findings may have positive implications for spinal injury patients, the real thrust of Komisaruk's studies.

From 'Grey's Anatomy'

From 'Saturday Night Live'

From 'When Harry Met Sally'