Altered States of Consciousness Occurring During Expanded Sexual Response in the Human Female Preliminary Definitions

Abstract

Expanded Sexual Response (ESR) is a recently defined phenomenon. It is defined as "being able to attain long lasting and/or prolonged and/or multiple and/or sustained orgasms and/or status orgasmus that lasted longer and more intense than the classical orgasm patterns defined in the literature". During our detailed preliminary survey to investigate the claimed ESR phenomenon in some particular women, we also investigated the subjective feelings and altered states of consciousness (ASC) during very intense and prolonged orgasms in the women with ESR. During our preliminary survey 72 types of different subjective feelings and ASC patterns were described in the 47 women with ESR. Among these were: depersonalization; out of body experience; flying; dying feeling (petit morte); ecstasy; rapture; explosion feeling; quivering, earthquake feeling; flooding; absorbing; spurting; blessed; shuddering; intense love; unreal; surreal; voyage to nature; seeing light flashes, color flashes, geometric shapes, figures; peacefulness; physical and spiritual warmth; loss of control; spreading; flowing; mystical experience; unification with the partner and/or the universe; de ja vu; crying etc. It is concluded that in some particular women with ESR, some of the very intense and prolonged orgasms induce a form of ASC of which mechanism is not explained yet! Pudental, pelvic, hypogastric and vagus nerves and oxytocin pathway is involved in the development of female orgasm. We hypothesize that blended nerve activation among these four nerves during ESR may be inducing extraordinary subjective feelings and ASC during profound female orgasms. "Four nerve theory of female orgasm" may explain the ASC during ESR to some extent. Also involvement of dopaminergic, serotoninergic, noradrenergic, opioid, prolactinergic and oxytocinergic pathways may modulate the altered mood states during ESR induced ASCs. Near to our ongoing research, more research to determine the scientific basis and parameters of ESR phenomenon in some females should be carried out, as well as the research on the neurological, psychological and neurochemical mechanisms of ESR induced ASCs in some females' psyche.