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When too much sexual arousal can kill

Woman commits suicide after suffering from a strange, painful disorder

A woman who suffered from a debilitating condition where she had constant, uncontrollable physical urges has committed suicide after years of battling her affliction.

Gretchen Molannen, 39, was found dead in her home in Florida, USA, over the weekend from an apparent suicide. Police did not provide details about how she died, but reports said they responded to a suicide call about midnight Saturday night.

She had suffered from persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) for more than a decade and a half.

The condition means the afflicted are physically but not psychologically aroused, and can often only find relief after masturbating for hours upon end - something she found shameful, because she was a devout Christian.

"I had such a different life before this thing took over," she told The Tampa Bay Times in November this year.

She explained that she began feeling the sensation when she was 23, describing that it was like a switch she couldn't turn off.

Discussing how she once had 50 uncontrolled orgasms in a row, she said: "It made me think I was going to die".

"You're in so much pain. You're soaking in sweat. Every inch of your body hurts. Your heart is pounding so hard...

"Men don't understand it. They don't care. They think it's hot...

"When I describe it to men, I tell them, 'Imagine having an erection that does not go down, that feeling of just before it comes out, all day, all night, no matter how many times, no matter how much you've destroyed the skin on your penis'."

Though she had aspirations of working as a translator, her condition meant that she had to take odd jobs, because she had to deal with the physical demands of the disorder.

She had a boyfriend, who said they had sex only around four times a year, because it caused her hours of agony afterward.

Sources: Daily Mail and Tampa Bay Times

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