Facts About Erectile Dysfunction Psychological Causes

Most of the men on one time or another can experience erectile dysfunction, but when the problem becomes persistent or occurs almost 50% of the time, or turns as a source of distress for the man or his partner, medical advice and treatment should be sought.

Erectile dysfunction can be caused by any disorder which interferes with physical sequential events that are needed to produce an erection.

Some medications used to treat high blood pressure, allergies, heart disease, depression, eating disorders, anxiety and ulcers may also lead to ED as a side effect. For those men who suffer from erectile dysfunction due to by psychological causes and problems, therapy may be needed.

Psychological reasons are responsible for nearly 10-20% of all erectile dysfunction cases. Mostly it is a secondary reaction to a physical cause. The psychological causes may stem because of childhood abuse or sexual trauma. But the common most psychological causes of erectile dysfunction are:

Stress: It could be job-related stress or money-related, or even be the result of marital discords and problems.

Anxiety: Once erectile dysfunction is experienced, the person becomes unduly worried and thinks this may happen again. This thinking could lead to “performance anxiety,” as well as fear of sexual failure, which causes consistent erectile dysfunction.

Guilty conscious: The person might feel guilty about not satisfying his female sex partner.

Depression: The most common cause of erectile dysfunction is depression which affects a man physically as well as psychologically. Depression can be the cause of erectile dysfunction even when a person is comfortable in sexual situations. Drugs and medications taken to treat depression might also cause erectile dysfunction.

Low self-esteem: Low self-esteem could be due to prior episode of erectile dysfunction leading to a feeling of inadequacy or could be result of some other reasons unrelated to sexual performance.

Indifference: Indifference might be a result of age and subsequent decrease of interest in sex, may be result of medicines or stem from problems and trouble in a couple’s relationship.

Many men who suffer from erection problems and look for help mostly have suffered from this problem for years. This problem can get worse over a period of time because psychological factors might start playing role. In such cases, there is a strong tendency in avoidance of sex or developing feelings of anger, helplessness, or reproaching partner who will not stimulate him enough. Most of the people are very much absorbed by erection during love making that they are hardly able to notice their partner or other arousing stimulations.

All said and done, once it is confirmed that the patient is suffering from erectile dysfunction due to psychological causes, consultation with a sexologist should be done immediately and the patient should undergo therapy for the same.