The Mental Health and Erectile Dysfunction Connection in Brooklyn, NY

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The Mental Health and Erectile Dysfunction Connection in Brooklyn, NY

Erectile dysfunction can be described as the inability to have or maintain a hard erection enough to perform sexual activities. In the United States alone, there are over 30 million men who suffer from erectile dysfunction.

The possibility of erectile dysfunction increases with age but there are certain factors that contribute to the severity of this disorder. There are physical causes for erectile dysfunction such as heart problems, diabetes, and being overweight or obese. For such physical problems, specialist doctors such as Dr. Lazare can be of significant assistance.

However, for some men, especially the 25% of men under 40 years who suffer from erectile dysfunction, it is mostly a mental health issue. The stigma associated with erectile dysfunction has led to reduced interest in the connection between erectile dysfunction and mental health. The following are some of the psychological causes of erectile dysfunction:

Depression

Depression is hard to diagnose and even harder to treat for most men. Though depression is primarily a mental condition, it substantially affects sexual desire and performance.

Depression is one of the most common causes of erectile dysfunction and mental health. Unfortunately, some drugs used to treat depression may also cause erectile dysfunction.

Stress

Although everyone will encounter stress at some point in their lifetime, it can get overwhelming when it leads to erectile dysfunction. Stress can be caused by many things including:

• work
• financial troubles
• marital problems among other things

When you are stressed, you may have trouble sustaining or getting an erection because your mind will be elsewhere. If your mind is stressed, the brain’s ability to trigger a sexual response (an erection) will be hampered.

Low Self Esteem

Erectile dysfunction and mental health often become a vicious cycle. If you are unable to please your partner then they have low self-esteem and then they can no longer get erections and the cycle continues.

Self-esteem issues outside of the bedroom can also lead to issues in the bedroom. If you are not confident in yourself generally, chances are you will not be confident about performing in the bedroom.

Anxiety

Once you have failed to get or sustain an erection during sex, it may lead to getting anxious that it does not happen next time. If it happens again and you get more anxious, the problem will only get exacerbated.

The anxiety may also be related to something else and can also cause you to struggle in the bedroom. Anxiety has many physical manifestations and erectile dysfunction is one of the direct ones among them.

Porn Addiction

All addiction is mental and though many forms of addiction can ruin your ability to perform sexually, porn addiction is one of the most common. When you spend a tremendous span of time watching and masturbating to porn, you may start to develop unrealistic expectations about sex.

In fact, studies have noticed many scenarios of this nature that a term has been developed to describe it: porn-induced erectile dysfunction.

All the above psychological causes of erectile dysfunction should be taken seriously and steps are taken to correct them. Ignoring them will only make the condition worse. Contact us at (718) 568-7143.