OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study is to describe the timing of the Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) diagnosis with that of depression/anxiety in a subgroup of women suffering from both disorders and determine which diagnosis came first – depression/anxiety or HSDD.  In addition it describes the use of both antidepressants and anxiolytics in this subgroup. METHODS: Marketscan® Research Databases were used to identify women aged 18-64 with an ICD-9-CM coded diagnosis of HSDD (302.71) from January 1, 1998-December 31, 2007 who also had an ICD-9-CM coded diagnosis of depression or anxiety (293.84, 296.2x, 296.3x, 300.0x, 300.4, 309.1, 311, v79.0). The first physician visit with an HSDD diagnosis was the index date.  Antidepressant and anxiolytic use was examined in the 24-month study period (12-months before and following index). RESULTS: A total of 957 (24.1%) of 3,975 women identified with HSDD also had a diagnosis of anxiety or depression in the study period. In this group, 34.7% (n=332) had a depression/anxiety-coded claim appear after their HSDD-coded claim (after cohort), conversely, 65.3% (n=625) had a depression/anxiety-coded claim appear on or before their HSDD-coded claim (before cohort). The majority of women in both the after and before cohorts were prescribed an antidepressant or anxiolytic in the study period, 78.3% (n=260) and 86.1% (n=538) respectively.  Sixty percent (n=156) and sixty-five percent (n=351) of these women went on to discontinue use of the same. CONCLUSIONS: Over 24% of women with HSDD also suffer with depression/anxiety.  More than one-third of these women developed their depression/anxiety diagnosis after being diagnosed with HSDD.  A larger proportion of women had a diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety on or before that of HSDD.  This may be evidence that both depression/anxiety and HSDD often present in tandem and that doctors feel competent to make such diagnoses concurrently. Additionally, intervention with antidepressants or anxiolytics appear inadequate to treat this population.