BAD sex. Unfulfilled sex. Miserable sex. It is a subject that most people don't want to think about, not to mention talk about--not in public, not at home, not in their bedrooms. But it is a problem that afflicts a great number of Americans. In fact, a recent University of Chicago study indicates that at any given time four in 10 American women and three in 10 American men suffer from some kind of sexual dysfunction.

The situation is worse in Black America. In general, African-Americans experience more sexual dysfunction than Whites, and Hispanics experience fewer sexual problems. Black women are much more likely to experience low sexual desire, and to report less pleasure from sex, than White women. Hispanic women consistently reported the most satisfying lives.

Many were shocked to learn that so many people are suffering from the bedroom blues. It is hard to believe that hundreds of thousands of men and women in this land of free sex and liberal love--where couples in bed area staple on daytime and evening television shows, where the average age of first-time sex is sinking lower and lower, where music and movies seem to be stuck on the same theme of sex, sex and more sex--that so many people are not enjoying what they spend so much time talking, reading, dreaming, bragging and lying about.

Sexual dysfunctions, according to the study, are "characterized by disturbances in sexual desire and in the psychophysiological changes associated with the sexual response cycle in men and women." The dysfunctions covered by the survey include lack of sexual desire, arousal difficulties, inability to achieve climax or ejaculation, anxiety about performance, premature orgasms, pain during intercourse and not finding sex pleasurable. In addition, the university study indicates that sex problems are more common among young women and older men.

There are many factors that affect the quality of a couple's sex life. They include the stresses that consume so many of us--job, family, social obligations, as well as economic pressures --in addition to psychological and physiological factors. At the same time, many people don't acknowledge that they have problems and don't seek help. Consequently, sexual problems that can be treated often go unmentioned.

Author Audrey B. Chapman, a couples therapist and radio show host in the Washington, D. C., area, says she finds that for many Black people, the sheer stress of everyday life leaves little time and energy for quality sex. "These days, people are living racy and hectic lives," she says. "Everyone is stressed out trying to achieve so much with so little time and, for most Black people, with not enough resources. People are stressed, pressed and frustrated, and all that takes energy. By the time you get to the end of the day or the week, you are wiped out. It takes energy to be sexual, and that means physical and emotional energy."