MEN ARE MORE COMPLICATED THAN ANYONE GIVES THEM CREDIT FOR

Men are generally far more complicated than anyone gives them credit for. We can never get enough reminders that men are human, too. Psychology professor Robert Schweitzer was trying to find out why men get postcoital dysphoria, or PCD — basically, feeling sad, after intercourse.

Schweitzer’s research is enlightening: Some 41% of men have experienced PCD in their lifetime. About 20% had experienced it in the last four weeks. Around 4% said they experienced it “most or all of the time.”

The reasons are typically one or more of the following: psychological distress, past trauma or dysfunction. Schweitzer notes that the results show that the male experience in the resolution phase of intercourse are not always positive, and “may be far more varied, complex and nuanced than previously thought.”

This supports the notion that all men are not, in fact, prowling horn-dogs who will do anything to get laid and who put little other thought into the act than simply scoring another notch. While this research is only the beginning, Schweitzer says it’s a start to understanding what will help men have better experiences, and how we might manage PCD when it comes up.