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Male sexual dysfunction
The sexual dysfunctions and desire disorders can affect everyone, both men and women, and can occur at any age. The sexuality supposed to be fulfilling can then weigh heavily on a couple’s shoulders.
Whatever the problem, it is often difficult to discern what is related to physical damage from what is psychological. Ideas, thoughts and feelings are as important as physical manifestations.
Main forms of male sexual dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction can be diagnosed when an erectile dysfunction occurs. repeated disability to have a erection or maintain sufficiently during coitus. It should not be confused with the isolated or occasional erection failure which, although often experienced in an embarrassing way, is commonplace and can occur in any man in good physical and mental health. The vast majority of men experience such periods one day or another without their life or that of their partner being disrupted. Erectile dysfunction affects about 20% of men aged 50 to 59, a proportion increasing with age and the occurrence of diseases with advancing age. The fact remains that a healthy man can remain sexually active throughout his life.
Decreased desire. The breakdown of sexual desire affects both men and women. A multiplicity of factors can interfere with desire. Hormones, medications, state of health, depression, anxiety, marital relationship, culture, values, economic situation and social context are just a few. In fact, a real desire disorder is diagnosed when the decreased libido occurs without reason apparent and persists over time. Factors involved in erectile dysfunction can also affect the liking for sexual activity.
Premature ejaculation. We can diagnose this sexual disorder when, in a systematic and uncontrolled way, the man ejaculates very quickly, before he wants it, and this systematically, sometimes even before having penetrated his or her partner. The phenomenon may or may not also be present during masturbation. Again, this situation can occur on occasion in a normal, healthy man; Most men do, at one time or another, ejaculate quickly, well before the time they would have liked. In a man suffering from premature ejaculation, the phenomenon is not occasional, it constitutes a constant. This sexual disorder affects around a third of men, making it the most common sexual disorder1.
Delayed ejaculation or anejaculation. The man who has it experiences difficulty in ejaculating, only succeeds if the coitus is very long or even, he never manages to ejaculate (anejaculation). The frequency of this disorder is increasing. It can be due to health problems (diabetes, neurological disease…), or to the taking of certain drugs, in particular antidepressants. In other cases, it is linked to mental restraint, a lack of letting go or even the overconsumption of X-ray images causing the excitement to rise in a particular way that is not found in a couple relationship.
The evolution of sexuality with age It can be reassuring to know that, for the majority of people, all of the physiological mechanisms to achieve sexual satisfaction are present at all ages. no matter the age. In addition, being sexually active contributes to good physical health, which increases longevity and maintains good sexual functioning. However, couples sometimes go through a period of adjustment on the outskirts of retirement, which leads them to adapt their sexuality. Having unrealistic expectations of sexual performance can hinder this adaptation. It is normal that with age, a development will occur: the erection may be slower to appear and less rigid; and that the more slowly occurring sexual arousal requires more direct stimulation from the partner. |
Conditions or situations that cause sexual dysfunction
Among the main ones:
Physical health issues. Several health problems can be the cause of Erectile Dysfunction and, sometimes, of a lower libido.
- Diabetes: excess glucose in the blood affects the mechanisms of erection;
- Cardiac disorders or atherosclerosis (the formation of plaques on the wall of the arteries, which narrows their diameter);
- Arterial hypertension;
- Overweight or obese;
- Chronic neurological disease (Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, etc.);
- Depression;
- Androgen deficiency: hormonal disorder causing a decrease in so-called androgen hormones (of the testosterone family), hormones essential for the functioning of desire, arousal, erection.
- Spinal cord injury following an accident, depending on the location and severity of the injury. For example, a lesion at the height of the neck can alter the erection linked to desire, but preserve the reflex erection, linked to a reflex center located at the lower back.
Medicines or treatments. Some treatments (against benign prostatic hyperplasia, for example) or pharmaceuticals (especially some antidepressants, antihistamines, and high blood pressure medications) affect your ability to get an erection or your desire for sex.
Smoking, alcohol or drug abuse. They can contribute to erectile dysfunction or difficulty ejaculation.
Difficulties in the couple. Unresolved conflicts with the partner often have repercussions on the desire to have sex and to let go intimately with his (or her) partner.
Latent homosexuality or unrecognized can have consequences on the course of sexual relations.
Stress, depression, anxiety. Nervous tension generated by concerns (worries related to work, family, financial difficulties, personal history, etc.), anxiety and depression often reduce energy and sexual desire. There may also be apprehension about sex, due to past bad experiences or fear of failure, called performance anxiety.
In case of premature ejaculation. Its origin often involves a set of factors, the main factor of which is the lack of learning the skills necessary to delay ejaculation. Other factors are undoubtedly involved, genetics, hypersensitivity of the glans penis, anxiety related to sexual performance or relationship difficulties with the partner.