Factors That Can Cause Sexual Difficulties

     There are many factors that can affect people’s sex lives. Medications, smoking, surgeries, illnesses, disabilities, and recreational drugs can interfere with sexual response and satisfaction. Chronic illness can be especially devastating because it tends to sneak up on a couple. It can appear as though one is losing interest when in fact, it is the result of circulatory function loss. Diabetes is the leading cause for erectile dysfunction in men. Neuropathy can cause a person to use their hands and fingers less during sex due to pain stimuli that interferes with pleasure.
     Medications related to psychiatry, hypertension, and some over the counter antihistamines can cause problems with desire, arousal delay, orgasm, and erectile dysfunction. One should ask their healthcare provider about potential side effects of medications of antidepressants, tranquilizers, and anti-cancer drugs etc.
     Performance anxiety can play a large part in sexual dysfunction. With all of the media hype about multiple orgasms for woman and the seemingly endless stamina of men, many people feel like they cannot compete. This sets a person up for failure from the start. Worrying about a recurrence of this can result in a vicious cycle causing many to stop attempting to have sex at all.
     Body image is very important to sexual satisfaction. It is well known that women worry about how they look due to media hype over the perfect, thin woman. Women who think they look good tend to rate their sex lives higher. Men also must live up to media standards of washboard stomachs and stamina. Many men take steroids that can cause sexual side effects of their own.
     Being a victim of sexual assault or abuse can severely limit one’s perception of a good sex life. Flashbacks can occur and interfere with good sexual activity ruining the mood. It is vitally important that one’s partner understands that this can happen even years after an incident of abuse or assault.
     Pain or orgasm difficulties can cause problems as well. Sometimes one either has an orgasm too fast or cannot have an orgasm at all. Women may have pain from inadequate arousal or lubrication. Sometimes, it’s a matter of positioning. Some women have shorter vaginal canals, and in certain positions, men can hit the cervix causing pain. Men may have pain due to prostate, bladder, or urethral infections that can cause pain during or after ejaculation. For men, there is a condition known as Peyronie’s disease caused by fibrotic tissue and calcium deposits in the penis. This can cause extreme curvature than can interfere with coitus or erection.

Reference:
Crooks R., & Bauer K., (2005). Our Sexuality. California: Thomson Wadsworth.