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Controlling Your ED Psychological Diagnosis and Treatment

By: Jacob Friedman

So you’ve been to the doctor for your ED. You’ve tried Viagra or Cialis or Levitra. Your blood pressure is down, you have a clean bill of health, and you’ve been working to live a healthier life. Why isn’t your erectile dysfunction going away, then? Unfortunately, ED isn’t the same as most other illnesses. There’s no single, easily identifiable cause behind erectile dysfunction, and oftentimes it’s the result of multiple causes working in tandem. Beyond the physical, ED can also be caused by a wide range of psychological factors. So how do you know if your erectile dysfunction is the result of your body, your mind, or both? How can you quickly pinpoint the causes without going through expensive and lengthy medical treatments, or bouncing from doctor to doctor without results? The first step is to take a good long look at yourself, learn the causes behind ED, and figure out which match up with your current lifestyle, both physical and mental. Aside from biological reasons erectile dysfunction can be caused by depression, anxiety, low self esteem or even relationship difficulties. Even performance anxiety or social nervousness can lead to some compromising situations, or even the exhibiting symptoms that are similar to ED. Once you’ve taken a good hard look at yourself, if you’re still not sure it might be time to speak to a doctor or therapist about your erectile dysfunction; there are a wide range of tests and procedures used to determine whether or not your ED is psychological in origin.

The Psychology of ED: Methods of Diagnosis

• Psychosocial Examination: This is the simplest, and often most reliable test, both for erectile dysfunction and a wide range of other disorders that may lead to other difficulties in your life. Therapy may not only determine if your ED stems from mental causes, but may also go a long way towards its treatment. It’s not uncommon for the man’s partner to participate in these evaluations, discussing sexual attitudes and expectations, as well as offering their own insights into his erectile dysfunction.

• Nocturnal Penile Tumescence (NPT): One way to determine whether a man suffers from ED for physical or psychological reasons is to simply measure his erections. This can be difficult to induce if the man is awake, but while asleep most men will experience five or six erections. This test measures a man’s nocturnal erections by wrapping the penis in special measuring bands and testing the hardness, rigidity and circumference. If a man still has these erections while he sleeps, but struggles to get or keep an erection while awake, the cause of his erectile dysfunction is likely psychological rather than physical. If these nightly erections don’t occur the ED likely stems from some physical cause such as nerve damage.

Psychological Treatment Options: Control your mind, control your ED

Therapy, like ED, is thought by many to have a series of stigma associated with it. When confronted by the need to speak with a professional, or the difficulties that come with erectile dysfunction, many feel embarrassment or shame, and they continue to suffer in silence while the causes of their ED and other problems go unaddressed. There are a wide variety of treatments available once the causes have been ascertained. Talk therapy can be used to treat depression or anxiety, and if Viagra or Cialis or Levitra don’t work there are also several medications, such as anti depressants or anxiety inhibitors that can be taken to alleviate the psychological symptoms, which may, in turn fix the erectile dysfunction. Furthermore, to help address any marital difficulties that may stem from the ED, there are several seminars available, along with couple’s therapy or sex therapy. These can help clear the air about a man’s erectile dysfunction, and a therapist can lead the couples through difficult conversations, and help them ask questions of one another that may be hard to speak of alone. There’s no need to feel ashamed or paralyzed, either by fear of getting help or by your ED. Many find therapy a life changing experience, and if you find out through any of the above tests that your erectile dysfunction stems from psychological reasons it might just help you get control of it. If you’re armed with the right information, what is there to lose?

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Article Source: http://www.bestwrittenarticles.com

Jacob Friedman is a professional freelance writer from Miami Florida. He attended the University of Florida where he received a BA degree in English in addition to studying Psychology. When he isn’t writing articles for Online Pharmacy prescription.md, he is studying to complete his Master’s Degree in Fine Arts. He can often be found in ,talking about buy Viagra Online and ED stories.

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