Comparison of the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Drug Therapy with Bupropion on Sexual Satisfaction and Marital Disturbance in Women with Sex Anxiety

Sexual instinct is a deep blend of psychological needs; this is why the ability has an irrefutable effect on marital life and its cohesion and sustainability. Sex anxiety refers to the fear of discussing sex with another person, which can affect sexual satisfaction. It also has an undeniable influence on marital life and its cohesion and sustainability. A high level of sexual satisfaction leads to an increase in the quality of life of marital life, resulting in increased marital stability throughout life. Sexual satisfaction and passion for life are two of the factors that can predict the quality of life and the interpersonal relationships of couples. Sexual problems and, consequently, marital conflicts can have devastating effects on couples' lives. These problems can, in addition to reducing the quality of life and mental health, will be effective in the future of common life and sometimes even divorce and separation of couples. Therefore, it is necessary and inevitable to intervene and improve this situation in couples. Cognitive-behavioural therapy is one of the treatments currently used in a wide range of psychiatric disorders and research support. In this way, people are taught how to substitute positive and healthy emotions for malicious and annoying emotions. Also, the use of bupropion anxiety medication can be useful in reducing these feelings by affecting both epinephrine and dopamine. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy and medication therapy using bupropion on sexual satisfaction and marital disturbance in women with sex-related anxiety.

The present study was a semi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest design with three groups. The statistical population of the study included people who referred to the midwifery and psychiatric clinics of Neyshabour in the spring of 2017 with anxiety complaints. Of these, 39 were selected by convenience sampling, taking into account the criteria for entering and leaving the research in a randomized manner. Three groups (cognitive-behavioural therapy, drug therapy and control group) placed. The first group received eight sessions of cognitive-behavioural therapy, and the second group received the drug, the control group did not receive any psychological or medication intervention — all three groups evaluated by questionnaires including sexual satisfaction scale and marital distress at the beginning and end of the study. The results analyzed by multivariate variance (covariance) and Bonferroni post hoc test using SPSS software.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy and medication therapy were effective in improving sexual satisfaction and marital disturbance. There was no significant difference between the two treatments.

It suggests that cognitive-behavioural therapy be used as a research-based therapeutic approach to improving sexual satisfaction and marital disturbance of people with marital anxiety.