Sexual disinhibition during treatment with a benzodiazepine: a case report.
We are reporting a case of a woman with a history of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and sexual promiscuity as a teenager who later on in life had become very religious, sober and sexually abstinent. A few years later, she began having anxiety and panic attacks, typically when in physical proximity to men and sought treatment. The patient became clearly sexually disinhibited while treated with clonazepam, a high potency anti-anxiety benzodiazepine, and her "inappropriate" sexual behavior ceased when the medication was discontinued. Given her history, it is likely that the medication weakened the already fragile defenses by the removal of the "warning signals" represented by her panic attacks. The result was a more direct expression of her sexual drive in the form of strip tease dancing and sexual promiscuity. This case suggests the importance of carefully examining the history of a patient's capacity for regulating sexual drive before prescribing an anti-anxiety drug.
Fava
M
M
Massachusetts General Hospital, Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, Harvard Medical School.
Borofsky
G F
GF
D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D002998:Clonazepam / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010200:Panic / Q000187:drug effects*; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D012931:Social Environment
D002998:Clonazepam