Psychology is a significant aspect of erectile dysfunction. We often ignore the outcomes of psychological issues like stress and anxiety. Psychological factors can lead to temporary ED and some Psychological exercises for ED can be beneficial. Around 10-20% of ED patients come with psychological issues. But it is possible to treat it naturally.
Exercise is the best way to treat ED, but not any exercise, or psychological exercise. These exercises help with mindfulness awareness and improve erectile functioning. So, if you have ED due to depression or mental state, this blog is for you. We will cover six working psychological exercises for ED in men.
What is Psychological Erectile Dysfunction?
Erectile dysfunction is an inability to get or maintain an erection during sexual intercourse. As you get sexually excited, the blood pressure in the penis increase. The elevated blood flow stays in the pelvic area, and you get an erection. But when, for some reason, the pressure of the blood decreases, you experience erectile dysfunction.
It is a common problem that men suffer worldwide. The primary causes of ED include physical conditions, unhealthy lifestyles, and psychological problems. Psychological ED occurs when your stress, anxiety, or relationship problems affect your ability to get an erection. It is also known as psychogenic erectile dysfunction.
Symptoms of psychological ED:
- Loss of interest in sex
- Premature ejaculation
- Performance anxiety
- Inability to get an erection
- Lack of self-esteem
Having performance anxiety is normal, as you get excited and thrilled at the same time. Slowly, the negative version drops off, and you become more aware of the touching. But if the anxiety stays, it becomes difficult to focus on the sex. These psychological problems lead to ED and ruin sex.
6 Psychological Exercises for ED
1) Mindfulness Meditation Exercises for ED
Meditation is a traditional way to get calm and control your thoughts. It can be helpful for sexual dysfunction in many ways. Mindfulness meditation is a technique that helps to treat psychogenic erectile dysfunction. In this technique, the therapist focuses on mindfulness practices.
If you have sexual dysfunction due to psychological issues, these exercises for ED can help you with reducing the negative impacts of these symptoms. It helps to make you aware of the situation and become present, at the moment. When thousands of thoughts surround you in one second, this exercise helps with relaxing and understanding the situation.
A study conducted in 2018 researched the relationship between mindfulness meditation and ED. The researchers took ten participants and enrolled them in a 4-week mindfulness-based treatment. The result showed improvement in erectile functioning, sexual satisfaction, and non-judgmental awareness.
2) Guided Imagery Exercises for ED
Another psychological exercise that can help with erectile dysfunction is guided imagery. It is a therapeutic technique that works on a visualization exercise basis. In this therapy, you listen to a script that describes a positive sex scenario. Listening helps to visualize the scene and sink into it. It helps to tap into the unconscious mind and brings changes in the real world.
For instance, the scene starts as you go into the room, sit on the bed, and your partner enters from another door. She comes for you and kisses you all over. You get excited and become hard.
This scene looks real, and you feel it while listening to it. It helps you to improve your sexual awareness and reduces psychological problems. Guided imagery works amazingly for treating performance anxiety and helps to get an erection.
3) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Exercises for ED
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a psychological therapy that enhances the quality of erection during sex. This talk therapy promotes the healthy behavior of men. The therapist understands the negative thinking patterns and behaviors that assist with the therapy and talks about mindfulness. CBT can help you with low self-esteem, stress, and performance anxiety.
Your therapist tries to find the triggering point that may lead to erectile dysfunction. Once he does that, helps you understand these points. It results in an understanding of the personal thoughts and negative patterns, which you overcome gradually.
In a study, researchers took 28 participants and engaged them in CBT and Sildenafil Citrate for 4-12 weeks. As a result, CBT showed a significant improvement in anxiety, and they concluded that CBT can have a positive impact on erectile dysfunction in young men.
4) Breathing Exercises for ED
Deep breathing is a promising technique that works for anxiety and stress. In India, it is known as Pranayam. It hugely benefits your body and mind. It also helps with sexual performance anxiety and psychological issues that can lead to ED.
You must have experienced that when you get nervous or anxious about something, your partner or friend asks you to take deep breaths for a few seconds. Breathing has the power to slow down your heart rate and make you more conscious.
As you take deep breaths, you inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. The inhalation helps to enhance the oxygen level in the blood, releasing the tension in the blood vessels. Your muscles get relaxed, which leads to increased blood flow in the penis.
5) Sensate Focus Exercises for ED
Sansate focus is a technique that is practiced in sex therapy. It is designed in a way that works with touching and performance anxiety. It uses non-verbal communication and makes it easy to bring intimacy between the couples without any anxiety.
Sensate focus exercise focuses on building desired sensations to improve sex problems. The touching encourages the couples to get intimate and not harsh during sex. You don’t need to get an erection or orgasm in sensate focus.
You will come close to your partner with excitement and not a high heart rate and appreciate each other’s touch. Consult a sex therapist to get professional help on this and enjoy better results.
6) Self-Hypnosis Exercises for ED
We relate hypnosis with some mental issues where someone points a finger in the face. It looks scary, but hypnosis is more than that. Hypnosis is a form of psychotherapy that helps with sexual dysfunction. It works on the mental state, like a trance, and provides deep calm.
Hypnotherapy is the term used when professionals use hypnosis to help with ED, and when you do it yourself, it is called self-hypnosis. It helps with managing stress and anxiety and focuses on improving negative thoughts and emotions. As you go in hypnotherapy, you become more conscious, your concentration improves, you become aware of the sexual sensations, and explore vivid fantasies.
During hypnosis, your brain plays a crucial role in managing calm and making you aware of the situation. A study explored sexual dysfunction with acupuncture, hypnosis, and placebo. The success rate of acupuncture was 60%, and hypnosis was 75%.
Conclusion
Erectile dysfunction is a sexual condition that is common worldwide. It is not something to be ashamed of. You can practice psychological exercises for ED if you have psychogenic erectile dysfunction. Exercises for ED like- mindfulness meditation, guided imagery, CBT, breathing, sensate focus, and self-hypnosis improve sexual awareness and work well on getting an erection during sexual intercourse.
If you are a patient with erectile dysfunction, it is important to get help in overcoming it. Consult a sex therapist or couple counselor and learn about the root cause of this problem.
FAQs
Q1. What Exercises are Good for Psychological ED?
You can practice psychological exercises to reduce the effects of erectile dysfunction. Additionally, exercises for ED like kegel exercises are designed to work solely on the pelvic floor muscles, which play a crucial role in getting an erection.
Q2. What Nerves Control Erectile Function?
The main reason behind erectile dysfunction is the insufficient blood in the penis during sexual arousal. The pudendal nerve lies in the erection center. It helps to get an erection by giving signals to activate connector nerve cells to stimulate the neurons.
Q3. How Can I Overcome Psychological ED Naturally?
Change your lifestyle, exercise more, eat healthy food, and quit smoking. The lack of these factors contributes to erectile dysfunction. You can also practice various psychological exercises like- guided imagery, mindfulness meditation, and self-hypnosis. These exercises for ED help to bring awareness of sexual stimulation and help to improve your erection naturally.
