Psychological impotence and its treatment

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Erectile dysfunction (impotence) is a man's inability to get and maintain the desired erection for sexual intercourse. It is easy to understand that impotence is a hard trial for the men strong in spirit. Erectile dysfunction can be caused by different factors: physiological and psychological. Physiological impotence is associated with such diseases as diabetes mellitus, diseases of the genitourinary system, diseases of vascular system, diseases of the pelvic organs and others. Psychological impotence is caused by past psychological traumas or emotional disorders. Psychogenic sexual disorders are found in women as well, but in men they affect the potency and therefore are more noticeable. In most cases, psychogenic disorders of sexual function are caused by prolonged stress of any nature: long-term anxiety, shame and danger. However, the causes of psychological impotence are quite diverse, and it may be caused by a rare irregular sexual activity, and too intense sexual activity, when a man changes sexual partners too often. Most often, impotence is caused by a combination of causes rather than a particular one; any disorders are superimposed by emotional experiences, which then largely preclude a man from getting a normal erection.

The main features of psychological impotence in men are:

- erection insufficient for sexual intercourse when the penis is not erected enough or erection appeared immediately disappears;

- premature ejaculation (i.e. immediately after several frictions or before sexual intercourse);

- long expectation of an orgasm;

- long-term "recovery" period until the next erection.

Before proceeding to the treatment of psychological impotence, first of all it is necessary to determine its cause. Typically, the psychological impotence treatment itself begins with the psychotherapy. If along with the psychological causes of impotence there are physiological disorders, the patient is prescribed the drug treatment of impotence in addition to psychotherapy. In most cases, psychological impotence can be cured; the main obstacle to treatment remains reluctance of many men to go to specialists with such a touchy problem.

To restore potency, the man needs to take a lot of efforts and strictly follow the recommendations of the treating physician.

All men, even those who do not have erectile problems, are recommended to follow the simple rules of impotence prevention: to give up smoking, limit alcohol consumption, exercise, not use drugs, keep to a diet, avoid prolonged or frequent stress, not overwork (physically and morally), have periodical checks by a urologist.