Psychological impotence

Psychological impotence is a type of erectile dysfunction. It may affect people at any age, but it is more common for young men and middle-aged group. Recent researches showed that psychological impotence include only 10-20% of the whole amount of people who suffer from this disease. As you might know impotence is inability to develop or maintain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse. At the same time this condition may have such manifestation as loosing an erection. But it is worth to remember that both physiological and psychological impotence does not include such symptoms as a lack of libido, inability to ejaculate or the inability to achieve orgasm.

Psychological impotence is caused not by physical but mental reasons. Among such causes it is possible to list lack of self-confidence, traumatizing experience from the past, hormonal imbalance, nervous breakdown, rape or failure to reproduce. Feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, stress, guilt, depression or sheer boredom are also considered to be widely spread causes of psychological importance.

It is important to remember that occasional impotence is not a big problem, it is normally to experience it several time during a life time. If there is no physical causes it does not require medical treatment. In most cases of occasional impotence a person just need a good rest and maybe get a better mood.

Organic impotence is a condition under which it is hardly possible to maintain an erection till the satisfactory end of the sexual intercourse or it may mean inability to obtain an erection firm enough for vaginal penetration. If you divide erectile dysfunction into two types, the major place will take exactly organic impotence as it is more common. This kind of impotence is caused by physical problems contrary to psychological impotence. The percentage of people who suffer from this disease varies within different age groups. Sexual impotence affects about 7 – 8% of young people whose age is 20 – 39 years; 10 – 12% of people suffer from this disease at their 40 – 49 years. Almost 18% of people whose age is 50 – 59 may complain on erectile dysfunction. About 38% male are in danger to get this disease at the age of 60 – 69. And the age group 70+ has the biggest chances (58 – 60%) to be affected by impotence. S o you see that the number of sufferers increases with the age.

Among causes of organic impotence it is possible to distinguish such options as vascular, neurologic, endocrinologic and mechanical. Vascular causes include: atherosclerosis, fibrosis, pelvic trauma, radiation. Neurologic causes include: spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, diabetes, alcohol, postoperative nerve damage and drugs. Endocrinological causes may include: hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, pituitary–hypothalamic tumors, primary and secondary hypogonadism, thyroid and systemic diseases. Mechanical causes include: peyronie's disease, sequelae of priapism, phimosis and trauma. There exist different classes of drugs that may cause the appearance of organic impotence. They are alcohol, estrogens, different narcotics substance, barbiturates, sympatholytics, antidepressants, anticholinergics, antihypertensives and histamine H₂ receptor antagonists.