Do you experience erectile dysfunction even when you’re physically healthy? Chances are you’re going through psychological issues. Many psychological factors impact your erectile function and make you prone to ED. Learn what psychological factors can cause erectile dysfunction and when you should seek medical attention in this article. If you want to know more about urological health, visit us at Doral Health and Wellness Urology Center and consult with the best nephrologists and urologists in East New York.
Psychological causes behind erectile dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction not only happens due to physical problems but also due to psychological issues. The research has found that cases of young people (under 40) with erectile dysfunction occur due to psychological problems rather than physical issues. Many psychological issues can lead to erectile dysfunction, including:
- Stress and anxiety:
While stress and anxiety are two different things, they are closely connected when they impact erectile dysfunction. Stress is usually an underlying factor in erectile dysfunction. Acute stress may not cause any major problems, but chronic stress can lead to anxiety, which triggers more stress and traps the person into a vicious cycle that causes mental/psychological erectile dysfunction.
Anxiety also causes increased heart rate, blood pressure, and fatigue, all these factors affect your sexual performance. This causes stress during sexual activity and makes it one of the most common psychological causes of ED. Researchers studied the link between anxiety, stress, and ED. They found that people with ED or premature ejaculation (PE) have experienced significant anxiety and depression. This means mental health disorders can lead to the onset of sexual dysfunction, making them a common contributing factor.
- Performance anxiety:
In many ways, performance anxiety is one of the common worries that makes the male partner worry they will not be able to satisfy their partner in the bedroom. This makes you nervous and panic which impacts the ability to have or keep an erection. In some cases, sexual performance anxiety comes from negative self-talk, like convincing yourself that you won’t be able to achieve an erection, please your partner, or will ejaculate too early. If you have had difficulty getting an erection in the past, then these experiences may stick in your mind and affect your ability to relax in the bedroom.
- Depression:
Depression is one of the most common symptoms that goes beyond a persistent sad, empty mood because it makes it difficult to experience pleasure in anything, which includes sex. This can occur to anyone in any age group. It causes chemical imbalance in the brain which affects both your sexual desire and function. In men, it is difficult to diagnose because many men don’t recognize depression symptoms and seek medical attention. However, most men can recover their sexual interest and resolve their ED problem by taking proper treatment for depression.
- Relationship problems:
While every relationship has problems, sometimes those problems can cause mental block erectile dysfunction. This happens because conflicts in relationships can lead to emotional stress and create distance between partners, which impacts sexual desire and performance. This can be solved by communicating with your partner to resolve the particular issue that causes psychological ED. If you aren’t able to solve those issues on your own, seek couple counseling where two people learn to love again by learning to listen to each other and find the magic again.
- Guilt and low self-esteem:
Many men may have a guilt of not being able to satisfy their partner. This guilt over time becomes more than a minor issue which leads to an ongoing cycle of mental ED. This guilt can trigger low self-esteem which may keep you down in more ways. If it makes you insecure about your sexual performance or worry that you’re not attractive enough for your partner, it heightens your risk of sexual performance issues. Like other aspects of psychological erectile dysfunction, low self-esteem, and sexual performance issues usually make each other worse. In a study published in the BMJ, experts found that erectile dysfunction can cause serious distress in men and impact their self-esteem and relationship quality.
- Pornography use:
While watching porn is not bad or harmful unless you use excessive use of pornography which may lead to depression and sexual performance issues like an ED. Research suggests that if you spend a lot of time watching and masturbating, you may develop unrealistic expectations about sex or your sexual partners. This causes mental difficulties in maintaining hard-on, which is referred to as porn-induced erectile dysfunction.
- Masturbation:
This one involves both psychological components and some physical components. Although research is limited, masturbating too much can lower your sexual satisfaction through something called death grip syndrome, which means you reach orgasm during masturbation but not with partnered sex or penetrative sex. In short, you get orgasming one way, so stimulation any other way may not be enjoyable to you. You may also lower your penile sensitivity due to how you masturbate. This combination of porn-induced ED and death grip syndrome will affect your level of function and enjoyment from real-life sex.
When to seek help?
If you’re physically healthy and feel worried about psychological ED, then you should talk with your healthcare provider. They’ll examine your medical history and perform a physical exam, ask some questions, and run some tests to rule out the cause of your ED.
Many psychological factors can cause erectile dysfunction as it impacts many physical functions in the body, including achieving or maintaining an erection. However, these psychological factors are treatable and get better over time which helps you improve your erectile function.
Need help with erectile dysfunction, visit our men’s health expert in Brooklyn clinic to get professional medical help to improve your sexual function. Call us to book your appointment now!!! At Doral Health and Wellness Urology Center, our team of urologists will work with you in managing your disease and your quality of life. We also offer services, such as renal and bladder ultrasound. To schedule an appointment, please visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11212 or call +1-718-367-2555. You can also visit our website at https://doralhw.org/specialties/urology/.
