The colloquium held at the Reynolds School of Journalism, room 101, was entitled "Sex is not the Enemy" and was presented by Tierney Lorenz. Tierney Lorenz is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction who dedicated her work to the bidirectional relationship between sexual behaviors and symptoms of mood disorders (Lorenz, "Research Statement"). She introduced the subject of her focus on the sexual side effects that are significant with the use of antidepressants and how health behaviors can modify these side effects. Lorenz began by discussing the positive health behaviors that promote or maintain good health and wellbeing, and the negative health behaviors that actively avoid to prevent or slow a disease process (Lorenz, 2015). Lorenz illustrated the connection between mental health, physical health, and sex and reproduction through a diagram that recognized the components of sexual desire in relation to the side effects of antidepressants.
Observing the results of this modernized experiment helped me to connect the concepts I have been learning in class. The elicited response of the antidepressant stimulus was due to a chemical imbalance that was found through observations of the brain anatomy. Lorenz proceeded on her theory of the correlation between the chemical properties of the antidepressants to the chemical imbalances resulting in the lack of stimulation. She provided a specific analysis of the significant side effects of antidepressants in relation to sexual behavior, and offered a study for a solution to the decline of sexual behavior for participants who suffered with depression. The solution states that moderate sympathetic activation increases female sexual arousal and may mitigate sexual arousal and orgasmic side effects (Lorenz, 2015). In order to boost the Ephedrine for improved sexual arousal and orgasm indicative to placebo, the individual must introduce a Paroxetine for lubrication and Sertraline for orgasmic effects (Lorenz, 2015).
