Post-coital tristesse (PCT), also known as post-coital dysphoria (PCD), and colloquially post-nut clarity, is the feeling of

sadness Sadness is an emotional pain associated with, or characterized by, feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, grief, helplessness, disappointment and sorrow. An individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw them ...

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, agitation or aggression, after sexual intercourse or masturbation. Its name comes from

New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

''postcoitalis'' and French ''tristesse'', literally "sadness". Many people with PCT may exhibit strong feelings of anxiety lasting from five minutes to two hours after coitus. The phenomenon is attributed to the Greek medical writer

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one ...

, who is supposed to have written that "Every animal is sad after coitus except the human female and the rooster." However, this quotation is not found in Galen's surviving writings, so it may be a later fabrication.

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...

and

Havelock Ellis Henry Havelock Ellis (2 February 1859 – 8 July 1939) was an English physician, eugenicist, writer, progressive intellectual and social reformer who studied human sexuality. He co-wrote the first medical textbook in English on homosexuality i ...

were familiar with the proverb, which they both attributed to an anonymous author, and it was not until decades later that the maxim became connected with Galen among

sexologists Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists ap ...

. The philosopher Baruch Spinoza, in his '' Tractatus de Intellectus Emendatione'', wrote: "For as far as sensual pleasure is concerned, the mind is so caught up in it, as if at peace in a

rue ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluis ...

good, that it is quite prevented from thinking of anything else. But after the enjoyment of sensual pleasure is passed, the greatest sadness follows. If this does not completely engross, still it thoroughly confuses and dulls the mind." Arthur Schopenhauer, writing later on the phenomenon, observed that "directly after copulation the devil's laughter is heard." One study reported that among a sample of 1208 male participants, 40% of them had experienced PCT at least once in their lifetime and 20% reported experiencing PCT in the four weeks preceding the study. This study also reports that 3–4% of the sample experienced PCT symptoms on a regular basis. According to the same study, PCT among males is associated with current psychological distress, sexual abuse during childhood, and with several sexual dysfunctions. With respect to symptoms in women, one study involved an epidemiological survey of post-coital psychological symptoms in a United Kingdom population sample of female twins: it found that 3.7% of these women reported suffering from recent PCT and 7.7% of them reported suffering PCT for a long time. Another study reported that almost half of female university students reported PCT symptoms at least once in their lifetime. The study also reported that there appeared to be no correlation between PCT and intimacy in close relationships.

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Sexual health Orgasm French medical phrases {{sex-stub

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