Can Stress Cause Erectile Dysfunction? Understanding the Connection

Can Stress Cause Erectile Dysfunction?

The Relationship Between Stress and Anxiety and Erectile Dysfunction

While many physical conditions can cause or contribute to ED, we can’t ignore the role our brains play. Which brings us to the all-important question: Can stress cause ED? Absolutely, and evidence suggests that some form of stress management can lead to better results. Understanding how is key to managing it.

How Does Stress Cause ED?

When you feel stress, your body makes adrenaline increases in your heart rate to move more oxygenated blood to your muscles, lungs, and brain to make you faster and, stronger. This activates the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the “flight, fight, and freeze” response. Problems happen when your body processes constant stress as you move through this cycle.

Mental health conditions like stress and anxiety affect how the brain signals your body’s physical response. Ongoing stress can lead to a disruption in these signals, which affects your sexual function. Stress and ED are closely linked because anxiety interrupts how the brain sends messages to the penis to allow extra blood flow, impacting sexual performance.

Managing Stress-Induced ED

Stress can lead to erectile dysfunction, making it difficult to get or maintain an erection. Addressing stress can yield positive results. In a study, men with ED who took a stress management course alongside tadalafil experienced improvements in their stress levels and ED symptoms. This shows that ED from stress can be managed effectively with the right interventions.

Stress and ED can be directly correlated to lifestyle factors, such as:

• Illicit drugs use
• Tobacco use
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• A sedentary lifestyle or lack of physical activity

How Can I Tell if My Stress and Erectile Dysfunction are Connected

Younger men typically experience erectile dysfunction due to psychological factors (like negative thoughts, performance anxiety, anxiety disorders, etc.) instead of physical health or lifestyle causes. However, like older men, they can also experience stress-induced ED.

The following are some signs that you’re experiencing stress-related ED:

• You’re able to experience an erection while masturbating, but not with a partner
• You’re worried about being able to please your partner
• You experience nocturnal and/or morning erections
• You experience high levels of stress and/or anxiety

What are Some Common Sources of Stress that Can Cause ED?

Stress can be caused by anything — good and bad. Your body reacts to these changes with physical, mental, and emotional responses. When these stressors build up, they can lead to sexual performance anxiety, which often interferes with physical intimacy and can cause you to experience ED.

These are only some of the common sources of personal and professional stress that cause sexual dysfunctions for men of all ages:

• Marriage
• Deadlines
• Legal problems
• Job loss
• Divorce
• New job
• Retirement
• Money problems
• Illness
• Parenting

The Dangers of Chronic Stress

Chronic stress is different from a sudden burst of adrenaline due to immediate danger like a fire or a car crash. A steady stream of adrenaline wears on your body and causes stress on the arteries.

Your arteries are like a firehose. They can handle enormous amounts of pressure during stressful times when your heart pumps hard and fast, especially when you need more oxygenated blood during an emergency, but can’t handle constant pressure.

Chronic stress is like using a fire hose to water your garden for 12 hours in a row. That blast of high-pressure water will not only ruin your garden, but also destroy the fire hose. The day-to-day constant stress you encounter such as your job, family, traffic is the worst kind of stress in your body.

Your blood vessels are the fire hose; they, can handle the pressure long enough to put out the occasional fire but can’t handle the kind of pressure all day every day.

Erections are about adequate blood flow. A chronic stress environment will eventually damage the way your blood vessels function, contributing to ED from stress.

Psychological Causes of ED

The saying is “sex – it’s all in the head.”  Your brain plays a crucial role in managing sexual response, and though there are multiple factors that cause erectile dysfunctions, psychological ones affect all ages.

Some psychological causes for erectile dysfunction include:

Depression: Depression is recognized as having effects far beyond mood. It can compromise someone’s immune system or even increase the likelihood of having a heart attack. Erectile dysfunction can affect someone with depression even when he is in a stable and loving relationship. Unfortunately, the drugs used to treat depression can cause erectile dysfunction, as well. The good news is that erectile dysfunction medications work whether the difficulty is from the depression itself or from the medications.

Anxiety: Fear or anxiety over any issue that is distracting can lead to physical symptoms such as erectile dysfunction.

Stress: Stress can be related to your job, finances, family, or marriage, among other day-to-day concerns. When stress and ED are linked, it becomes clear that when you reduce stress, it can have a positive impact on your sexual health.

Loss of Desire: Out of the various causes of ED, this can be among the most difficult to address. Medications do not work in this situation. A person must feel a sexual desire to kick off the process that allows the medications to function properly.

Low Self-Esteem:  This can stem from a man being unable to fulfill the role he believes gives him value as a man. It can be a failure to provide as he hoped for his family, an inability to gain acceptance in a peer group, or being unable to engage in sexual intimacy with a spouse or partner.

Guilt: Guilt over having an affair, losing the family’s money, having a hidden compulsion like gambling or drug use, or being unable to satisfy a partner, can all interfere with being able to get aroused, respond to sexual stimulation, or engage in sex.

Health Conditions that Can Cause ED, Stress, and Anxiety

Understanding erectile dysfunction is complex because there are multiple factors emotional, mental, and psychological. In addition to all those factors there are also health problems or conditions that cause erectile dysfunction including:

• High blood pressure
• Hypertension
• Heart disease
• Diabetes and associated nerve damage
• Obesity
• Clogged arteries
• Low testosterone
• Prostate cancer or enlarged prostate
• Drug use
• Medication side effects
• Alcohol and tobacco use
• Medication side-effects (oral medications to treat high blood pressure, prostate cancer, depression, etc)
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Peyronie’s disease

One of the first things your urologist in Sacramento will do to come to a diagnosis of erectile dysfunction is to take a sexual and medical history. Having a comprehensive view of any medical and health conditions is key to finding an effective erectile dysfunction treatment.

Easing Stress and Anxiety to Treat Erectile Dysfunction

In the American Urological Association Erectile Dysfunction guidelines, referral to a mental health professional should be considered for men who are being treated for ED to reduce performance anxiety, help in adherence to treatment, as well integrate treatments into a sexual relationship.

There are options to help ease the stress and anxiety that causes ED. One of the options is therapy which can help you break out of the stress-causing ED cycle.

Therapy options include:

Counseling: You’ll work with a therapist to identify and address major stress or anxiety factors so you can manage them.

Psychodynamic Therapy: This usually involves addressing a subconscious conflict to help find the root cause of your erectile dysfunction.

Sex Therapy: This therapy focuses on sensational pleasure rather than arousal and sexual activity. It aims to reduce the stress factor by building a more secure and reliable sex life.

Sexual Anxiety Therapy: Your doctor will explain erectile dysfunction to you in full detail. This can help reduce problems and worries caused by a lack of knowledge. Then your doctor will address the emotional issues and help you find a solution. Solutions may vary from trying to achieve relaxation to reactivating imagination.

De-Stress for a Better Sex Life

The good news is psychological impotence can be treated with good results. One of the best ways to treat stress-induced erectile dysfunction is to de-stress.

Different people respond differently to different approaches. Finding what works for you to decrease stress will likely help achieve less erectile dysfunction and sexual satisfaction. Some approaches to decrease stress:

• Meditation

• Yoga

• Exercise

• Progressive muscle relaxation

• Reduce Caffeine

• Reduce Alcohol intake

• Reduce Nicotine

• Dance

• Laugh

• Socialize

• Acupuncture

Other Treatments for Erectile Dysfunction

Research and advanced technology continue to provide a variety of medically reviewed treatments for erectile dysfunction.

• ED Prescription Medicine
• Injections
• Penis Suppository
• Testosterone Replacement
• P-shot
• Penis Pump (vacuum erection device)
• Shockwave Treatment
• Penile Implant
• Blood Vessel Surgery

Options Available

So, does stress cause erectile dysfunction? Unfortunately, yes. However, theThe good news is there are many of options available to help prevent and treat erectile dysfunction. From medication to testosterone replacement and shockwave therapy, these remedies are aimed at providing optimal results and reducing chances of experiencing erectile dysfunction.

Talk with our team to find the best treatment plan for you.

See our services or call us at (916) 245-3043 to schedule an appointment!