Anxious about your bedroom performance? Don’t worry — feeling this way isn’t uncommon, and you’re definitely not alone.
Anxiety around the bedroom, especially for men, is actually “a thing.” If you feel nervous, anxious or uncomfortable before, during or after performing, you might have a condition known as performance anxiety.
Performance anxiety can affect men of all ages and backgrounds. This condition can be a drag on your emotions and contribute to common dysfunction issues like ED and PE.
Arousal dysfunction might affect you, but did you know it can negatively impact your partner, too? There’s actually research on this. It turns out that dysfunction could increase your and/or your partner’s risk of developing depression.
Sounds like a vicious cycle, if you ask us.
It’s not all bad, though. Performance anxiety and its surrounding health issues are fixable. There are medical treatments and intimacy therapists who can help, plus lifestyle habits you can adopt to improve your performance in the bedroom.
Here’s a look into this condition, including what causes it, how it may affect bedroom activity and how to beat performance anxiety to revamp your love life.
Causes of Performance Anxiety
As you’re probably well aware, a big part of intimacy is getting aroused.
This occurs when arousal from your partner, yourself, or a toy sends nerve impulses to your brain. Your nerves alert the blood vessels in your privates to dilate, increasing blood flow to the privates.
Once this happens, the blood fills the tissue in the privates causing it to harden, then a fibrous membrane tightens around your privates keeping the blood from draining until you “release” and enter the refractory period. The refractory period is the time after climaxing, when you may be unable to have another arousal.
In some cases, getting or keeping stiff long enough for activity doesn’t happen easily — which is where performance anxiety comes into play.
A whole bunch of factors, both physical and mental, that may cause performance anxiety. Some of the main culprits are.
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Worrying about your performance, satisfying your partner or potential trouble “releasing”
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Body image insecurities or self-esteem problems, such as concerns about weight, height or privates size, affecting confidence
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Stress about male problems, like ED, PE, anorgasmia (inability to reach climax) or delayed climax
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Other health conditions that can impact intimate satisfaction, such as neurological diseases, metabolic syndromes or hormonal issues
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Current or previous substance abuse
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Relationship problems, like a lack of emotional connection, relationship anxiety or feeling dissatisfied in your relationship
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Sources of stress, like issues with work, relationships, family or other non-intimate aspects of your life
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Previous experiences or relationships that left a negative impact on how you approach intimacy
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Mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social phobia, social anxiety disorder and panic disorder
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Overall nervousness about making love
From the list above, relationship issues seem to have the most impact on performance anxiety. Research has revealed that everyday internal stresses within your relationship impact performance more than a job, finances or other external factors.
With stress and anxiety comes stress hormones like adrenaline, which causes your body to get out of whack, leaving little room for arousal.
For many men, this can lead to ED, making intimacy more difficult and less satisfying. ED occurs when you’re unable to get hard or stay stiff long enough to perform.
Another major factor that can cause men to have performance anxiety and ED is depression. According to a meta-analysis of 48 different studies on a total of nearly 170,000 male participants, those with depression had a 39 percent higher chance of developing ED than those without the mental health condition.
If you’ve been diagnosed with depression, ask your healthcare provider to do routine ED screenings. That way, you can get proper ED treatment if it’s impacting your experience and self-confidence.
Performance anxiety can also cause anorgasmia or delayed climax. Associated with a lack of satisfaction, this condition can make it difficult to achieve satisfcation, even with stimulation.
Symptoms of Performance Anxiety
Performance anxiety can affect you mentally and physically. The symptoms range from mild to severe, with some requiring medical treatment.
Symptoms of performance anxiety may include:
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ED
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Inability to get stiff sometimes (but not always) when you want to get intimate
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Ability to get an stiff but unable to maintain it
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Inability to ever get an stiff
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PE
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Delayed climax
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Negative thoughts before and during intimacy
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Fear when thinking about intimacy
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Fear before or during intimacy
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Less interest in intimacy
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Increased heart rate
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Upset stomach
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Sweating
How to Overcome Performance Anxiety
How can you get over performance anxiety? Different things can cause performance anxiety, so your treatment will depend on what’s causing yours.
You might need treatment for an underlying medical condition or a stressor that caused the anxiety in the first place.
In some cases, performance anxiety may resolve on its own as you become more comfortable with yourself and your partner. Anxiety over encounters could also disappear once you begin to identify and handle the stressors in your life.
If you aren’t able to overcome performance anxiety by yourself, there are plenty of male performance anxiety solutions you could try.
Therapy
A common treatment for anxiety symptoms is counseling, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), intimacy therapy and other forms of psychotherapy.
A mental health professional can help you work on your intimacy and performance issues while addressing any underlying conditions, such as depression or anxiety.
Through therapy, you can learn how to implement lifestyle changes, such as practicing mindfulness, to reduce stress and negative thinking. You can also get your partner involved to address relationship problems that could be contributing to your performance anxiety.
Dysfunction can also affect your partner, potentially causing marital issues, a lack of emotional bonding and a lower quality of life.
Behavioral marital therapy and cognitive behavioral couples therapy can help you explore what’s influencing performance anxiety in your relationship.
ED Medications
ED drugs — such as sildenafil (generic Viagra), tadalafil (generic Cialis), avanafil (generic Stendra) and even chewable hard mints containing ED medication — are available.
These prescription medications are phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors. They can help with anxiety symptoms, offering confidence for men with performance anxiety.
PDE5 inhibitors work by inhibiting the PDE5 enzyme, causing blood vessels near the privates to relax and expand, increasing blood flow to the privates. Taking PDE5 medications can help you keep and maintain a hard-on.
We also want to mention that PDE5 inhibitors may help treat PE, too.
ED medications can help with performance anxiety ED by opening your blood vessels and increasing blood flow to the privates before intercourse.
Other ED treatments include:
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Injectable medicines
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Suppositories
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Alternative medicine
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Psychotherapy
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Surgery
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Vacuum devices/pumps
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Lifestyle changes
ED drugs are especially effective for treating performance anxiety if your anxiety disorder is caused by feeling self-conscious about ED. In this case, performance anxiety is a side effect of ED, and medication can help solve that physical problem.
It’s important to note that ED is often underreported to healthcare providers because of the taboos and fear surrounding it. Remember, ED is a common problem many men go through, so don’t feel ashamed to discuss it with your provider.
Coping Skills for Performance Anxiety
A healthy lifestyle offers tons of overall health benefits, including health.
Some lifestyle habits for performance anxiety can include:
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Avoiding drugs, smoking and heavy drinking. Illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol can all contribute to ED, so limiting or avoiding consumption may help improve your performance.
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Engaging in regular physical activity. Forty minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise at least four times a week has been shown to reduce ED symptoms.
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Adopting and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet. Research has shown that a diet filled with vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and fish can lower the chances of ED symptoms.
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Using stress management techniques. Stress management techniques, like breathing exercises, in combination with ED medication, have been shown to reduce stress levels among men with ED.
Breaking the cycle of performance anxiety can help you cope with anxiety and improve performance.
Performance Anxiety: The Bigger Picture
Don’t feel like you’re alone — performance anxiety is a common issue among men and women.
For guys, it can be a stressful experience — after all, no one wants to let their partner down or miss out on the joys of intimacy because they feel anxious and uncomfortable.
Here’s what to keep in mind:
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Performance anxiety can lead to dysfunction. Performance anxiety can increase your chances of developing ED, PE, anorgasmia and other dysfunction disorders.
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Performance anxiety issues. This condition can cause several issues in the bedroom, like the inability to get and stay stiff, worry and fear about being unable to perform, relationship problems and much more.
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Symptoms of performance anxiety. Men with performance anxiety can experience ED, PE and other related issues.
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There are multiple ways to overcome anxiety symptoms. From being open with your partner and going to therapy to seeking ED treatments, you have options for addressing performance anxiety and leading a healthier intimate life.
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Change your lifestyle habits. Avoiding drugs and alcohol, exercising, eating healthy and using stress management techniques can help with performance anxiety.
This article originally appeared on Hims.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Featured Image Credit: stefanamer/istockphoto.