Psychological and emotional health problems, especially common ones such as depression and anxiety, can affect our daily lives, and for men, this might mean their sexual health as well.
Research has found that there may be a link between erectile issues and mental health particularly because stress, depression, and anxiety can affect and disrupt the signals from the brain to the rest of the body – which can affect blood flow and circulation. If you’re experiencing this, you aren’t alone! This is an incredibly common reason for ED, and there are several different healthy options to help you regain your sexual health and confidence.
What are some psychological causes for ED?
Have you noticed that you’re feeling a little down lately and that you also can’t get and keep a full erection? Those two might be connected. Depression plays a major role as a psychological factor that affects your ability to get and keep an erection. Once you think about it, it actually makes sense. If you’re feeling down about life, it’s going to be more difficult to achieve full sexual arousal.
Anxiety is also a leading psychological cause of erectile dysfunction. The more severe worry there is in your life, the higher the chance there is that you won’t be able to get and keep an erection. Also, as obvious as it may seem, anxiety about being able to reach a full erection oftentimes makes it even more difficult to reach full sexual arousal.
Stress is the third most common psychological cause. Many men can relate to being stressed – whether it’s work, your relationships, a long commute, or something else, we all have stressors in our lives that can lead to erectile difficulties.
Treatment options
When erectile problems might be caused by depression or anxiety, healthcare providers will focus first and foremost on treating your mental health issues, whether through therapy and/or prescription medications. If you can relieve your mental stressors, ED symptoms are likely to improve, as well.
Talk therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are useful ways to help treat a variety of mental health issues. These are usually the first-choice options when you have depression or anxiety. If therapy isn’t enough on its own, your doctor may also recommend prescription medications. Also, remember that many of the antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications out there take about 4 to 6 weeks to really start working, so don’t get discouraged if you’re not feeling any changes right away.
Can a vacuum pump help?
Once you begin to address your anxiety, you can also opt to help with the physical symptoms of ED and erectile issues through penile exercises and ED vacuum pumps which can help restore sexual function and improve erectile difficulties. Vacuum pumps and hydrotherapy are frequently overlooked ways to regain the ability to gain or maintain an erection.
When used, vacuum pumps create a vacuum around the penis, quickly drawing in blood, resulting in an erection. Built to remove the key issues people report with standard vacuum pumps, VaxAid can be used in air (like other pumps), or in water. VaxAid delivers more vacuum power than other pumps, with many users reporting that this leads to quicker (and longer lasting) erections. Shop our ED pumps to see which one might work for you.
