Do You Cry After Sex? What You Suffer Is Called - Post-Coital Dysphoria (PCD)

PCD was the subject of a recent study from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia that discovered almost half of the women surveyed have experienced sudden-onset sadness after doing the deed. Some men are known to also suffer from the condition.

Seconds after sex, writer Josie S. dissolves into uncontrollable floods of tears, sobbing as her lover looks on in confusion. “What’s the matter?” he asks, hurt. “Now you’re making me feel bad, too.”

Josie, 60, who does not want her last name in print for professional reasons, suffers from post-coital dysphoria (PCD) — feelings of depression after sexual intercourse — so the uncomfortable conversation is familiar territory.

“It’s something I’ve had since my college days,” admits the El Paso, Texas, resident, who often tries to conceal her emotions by turning her head or rushing to the bathroom immediately following sex.

Some men have reacted with care and concern, but others have gotten upset or even angry, the study showed.

Manhattan sex coach Amy Levine, founder of Ignite Your Pleasure, however believes the tears aren’t so much a sign of sadness, but a form of letting go.

“When we climax, we tend to say, ‘Oh God!,’ as if we are taken to a higher place energetically, emotionally, spiritually and physically,” she says. “Some women may experience a release or movement of energy when they are at this heightened state,” she also said.