What is performance anxiety?
Any non-medical issue that results in a man not being able too or have fear related issues to sex or sexual function. When a man feels that he is not in control over his ability to preform then this can affect every aspect of his life, in sever cases it can lead to a life of celibacy. For some men they will seek the opinion of a urologist to rule out any medical issues, but once the medical issues are ruled out a man is left with the same problem and no way to resolve it.
Psychological issues surrounding erectile dysfunction is not necessary a deep therapeutic issue but more of a problem that needs to be dealt with by a certified clinical sexologist. This is a specialized field with clinicians that have training in sex therapy but also are trained to rule out medical issues, health issues as well as prescriptive medication interactions, drugs and alcohol, all of which can affect sexual performance. They also offer solutions with techniques, and sexual aid products. For some men the problem can be resolved by the sexologist helping him understand the psychological issues, that can encompass lack of sex education, societal and religious views, abuse issues, and patterns that may need to be adjusted.
Cycle Of Anxiety
There is a cycle of anxiety that a man may go through that needs to be broken so that he can begin to gain control over his performance issues. This cycle can start as early as the teen years and up until a man is in his 70’s. As men age their level of testosterone drops along with this men go through different stages in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and up. A man in their 20’s is going to have a higher sex drive but he may also have less control over his performance, if at this age he does have per-mature ejaculation and does not get past it, this can affect him for the rest of his life. Many times a few bad experiences with a women, can leave him feeling out of control and this begins the cycle of anxiety concerning it happening again.
Learning through self pleasure how to control this from happening and not being climax focused a young man in his twenties can begin to correct this problem. As a man ages, and if he does not correct the problem it can become a bigger issue and affect his dating and intimate life with women.
If you are a man that is older with this issue, you can still retrain yourself but it does require more time and patience with help from a clinical sexologist. Part of the process in helping with erectile dysfunction is to use different techniques to self pleasure, one that Masters and Johnson coined as the holding technique, and stopping and starting.
Fear Can Cause Sexual Problems
Fear of performance, can lead to lack of sexual performance. As men age, along with stress, life, relationships, marriage, children, a man may have times in his life where his desire is stronger or not as strong. There are also occasions when a man can just suddenly become flaccid or it may not be as strong as it used to be. All of this is normal, but with some men it creates a problem if viewed as a problem. I have gotten so many emergency calls in my private practice about sudden male performance problems, that a man is panicked about, but is completely natural. A few common asked questions are, I suddenly became flaccid, nothing came out, my climax is not as strong, I am not able to release. All of these things can happen for a man once in a while and it is normal, the real problem can begin when it does “normally happen” and a man freaks outs causing stress and anxiety over the situation.
This is pertaining to losing an erection, and this can be brought by anxiety. What happens is a man becomes too anxious the blood that is suppose to go to his penis now goes to other parts of the body, (know as fight or flight). Also known as “amygdala hijack” in which our emotional memory, lodged in the limbic center of our brain, rules our reactions without the benefit of logic or reason…which causes our bodies to go into a “fight or flight” response’. If a man can break the cycle of anxiety then he can eliminate the amygdala hijack.
Solutions For Erectile Dysfunction
There is help for erectile dysfunction and it is not just medical but psychological and products that can be used as well. Part of the process in getting over your erectile dysfunction issues is to seek out the help of a professional as a clinical sexologist I give men and couples the tools to work through their erectile dysfunction issues.
Some products that also help men are pumps, followed by a rings to trap the blood for a limited time. There are also natural products that bring blood to that part of the body to engorge and enlarger. The last part of getting past erectile dysfunction is guided imagery, breathing through anxiety and techniques for self pleasure.
