Anxiety & Sexual Performance: How to Overcome Anxiety-Driven E.D.

Anxiety is extremely common in adults of all ages these days. Even though it’s technically falls under the mental health umbrella, anxiety can most certainly affect different aspects of your physical health – including your sex life. 

In most cases, anxiety stems from the fear of a future event – specifically of a negative experience happening again. For example: if you fail to achieve or maintain an erection once or twice, the resulting disappointment and tension between you and your partner can really haunt you. Every time it’s getting hot and heavy in the bedroom, its naturally for your mind to race back to this experience because you’re so afraid of it happening again. 

If anxiety is continuously preventing you from enjoying sex, you may have a form of erectile dysfunction (ED). There is good news: this form may be surprisingly easy to overcome. Before we get into potential solutions, let’s break down how anxiety can inhibit sexual performance: 

How Anxiety Can Inhibit Sexual Performance

When male patients talk to me about sexual anxiety, they often bring up previous experiences in which they felt like they had no control over their performance. Maybe their partner did something that turned them off, and they’re afraid their partner will unknowingly do it again. Maybe a certain thought or image popped into their head that turned them off, and they’re afraid they’ll go down the same mental path whenever their partner wants to be intimate with them. 

This can result in non-organic ED, as opposed to organic ED. What’s the difference? While organic ED is caused by a medical issue, non-organic ED stems from psychological or emotional factors like stress, depression, and anxiety. That means you probably won’t need medication to get your sex life right back to normal. 

Resolving Non-Organic ED with Lifestyle Changes

Since anxiety stems from fear, many people have managed to overcome inorganic ED by engaging in lifestyle activities that make them feel more confident and relaxed. This can include:

• Exercise
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Eating healthy
• Getting more sleep

These activities can boost your self-esteem and self-image. When you view yourself in a more positive light, you focus more on positive outcomes than negative ones. 

How Sex Therapy Can Help

If you believe you’re experiencing non-organic ED, sex therapy is a highly effective way to get to the heart of the issue. Putting your fears into words makes them infinitely easier to overcome. Instead of letting these fears build up inside of your head, you are bringing them out in the open and facing them head-on. 

Sex therapy can also teach you how to be 100% present when you’re with your partner, instead of thinking of the past or the future. Sometimes, just a few sessions is all it takes to get your sex life back on track.

At Blue Pearl Therapeutic, we can create an individualized plan for you to break these mental barriers so you can focus entirely on the comfort and safety you feel with your partner. 

For more information about how sex therapy can alleviate anxiety-driven ED, schedule a free 15-minute consult today.