Freud and other analysts have spoken of a transitory loss of consciousness during intense sexual orgasm. This has therefore sometimes been construed as a criterion of complete orgasm, with implications for the aims of analysis. While agreeing that orgasm produces an alteration in consciousness, Needles believes that careful investigation of accounts of loss of consciousness will reveal (1) that it is a very rare phenomenon, and (2) that it may be an indication of psychopathology rather than of normality.