How Erectile Dysfunction Fuels Performance Anxiety

Sex can be a great stress reliever. But if you’re worried about how things will go in the bedroom — and particularly if you’ve struggled with erectile dysfunction (ED) — sex can actually be a trigger for anxious feelings.

Unsurprisingly, this can affect how you perform when the time comes to get intimate. 

Fortunately, Robert Grafton, MD, and our team at PSI Medical Group understand the link between performance anxiety and ED. Here at our office in Wixom, Michigan, we specialize in providing sexual health care. 

That means tackling sexual wellness issues by looking at both mental causes like performance anxiety and physical causes like insufficient blood flow.  

To help you understand how this comprehensive type of treatment works, let’s talk about how your brain affects your body when it comes to sex.

The link between performance anxiety and ED

Stress about how you’ll perform with a sexual partner doesn’t just link to erectile dysfunction. It can affect intercourse and how you feel before, during, and after it in a number of ways. Performance anxiety can also affect women, limiting their arousal.

In men, the worry about being able to perform can create more stress in the situation. And since mental factors absolutely contribute to ED symptoms, performance anxiety can create erectile dysfunction and make it worse. 

And the cycle can continue. The inability to perform as expected can take a toll on your mental wellness, in turn exacerbating ED issues.

Ultimately, performance anxiety can fuel erectile dysfunction, both in the moment and over time. So if you’ve been having trouble getting or maintaining an erection, it’s worth taking action now. Waiting lets stress build, making the problem worse. 

Managing stress and erectile dysfunction

Dr. Grafton and our team understand that performance anxiety often plays a role in ED. As a result, we don’t just treat your erectile dysfunction. We can also work with you to address the underlying stress. 

You benefit as we dig to the root of your performance anxiety. Is the ED the sole trigger, or is there something else at play, like a body image issue or a problem with your partner? Often, successfully eliminating performance anxiety means dealing with its root cause head-on.

At the same time, we work with you to explore treatments designed to help you get and maintain an erection you can trust. This goes a long way toward eliminating your fear that you won’t be able to perform as expected. 

With options like GAINSWave® sound wave therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, we can fight the physical reasons for ED while helping you address the mental ones. 

Don’t let performance anxiety make your ED worse. To move toward eliminating both from your life, call us at PSI Medical Group in Wixom, Michigan, or book an appointment through our convenient website scheduler today.