Sexual Performance Anxiety: What is it and how to deal with it?
It’s natural to feel worried before having sex. Sexual performance anxiety (SPA) is when you are so anxious that you cannot engage in or enjoy sex. SPA is a sort of performance anxiety that impacts sexual behaviour.
A person with this syndrome may become overwhelmed by the fear that they won’t be able to perform, either before or during sexual activity.
How common is male performance anxiety?
This condition is more common in men than in women. Additionally, it might result in the emergence of sexual diseases, including erectile dysfunction. One of the most prevalent sexual disorders in the modern world is sexual performance anxiety. According to a study, 6% to 16% of women and 9% to 25% of males suffer from SPA, respectively.
What is male performance anxiety?
SPA seems slightly different before sex than during sex. It nearly always prevents having sex when it happens before it. You might not be able to get or maintain an erection. When it occurs during sex, you’ll discover that you can’t even enjoy the climax.
If untreated, SPA may result in other sexual dysfunctions and make one less interested in having sex and engaging in other sexual activities. Researchers discovered in a 2005 study that performance anxiety significantly contributes to the emergence of sexual dysfunction in both men and women.
Signs of performance anxiety in bed for men
The following are the signs of Sexual Performance Anxiety:
- I am not being able to get or keep an erection.
- Having trouble orgasming during sex
- Ejaculating too soon after having intercourse
- Displaying little or no enthusiasm for having sex
Signs of performance anxiety in bed for females
Though women display some different symptoms for this:
- Vaginal dryness
- Having trouble getting excited
- A little discomfort during sex
How Sexual Performance Anxiety Affect me?
As sexual performance anxiety affects people differently, it’s essential to watch out for all the symptoms linked. Sometimes erectile dysfunction is incorrectly labeled as sexual performance anxiety. Even though these are two different illnesses, the condition may or may not lead to erectile dysfunction.
It might be challenging to diagnose and treat sexual performance anxiety since it is not a recognized medical disease. People are also discouraged from seeking medical attention or other sexual performance anxiety medication due to the stigma typically associated with sexual dysfunction disorders.
Any alternative explanations for your decreased sexual performance, such as other medical issues, must be checked to diagnose sexual performance anxiety. The usual person who analyzes SPA is a psychotherapist.
Causes of Sexual Performance Anxiety
When stressed, your body undergoes notable changes that might impair sexual performance. Hormones like norepinephrine and cortisol are frequently elevated during anxious states.
In addition to raising your blood pressure, these hormones can reduce blood flow to your penis, making it harder for you to have or maintain an erection.
Anxiety over sexual performance has several causes. It is frequently brought on by a variety of biological and psychological reasons, including:
- Having problems with self-esteem and body image: When engaging in sexual activity, those who are too concerned about their height, weight, or the look of specific body parts may suffer SPA.
- Emotional estrangement from your relationship: Often, emotional problems one is facing with the relationship might manifest as SPA.
- Dealing with mental health conditions: SPA may be exacerbated by depression and generalized anxiety disorder.
- Insufficient sexual experience: Those with little sexual experience could have performance anxiety.
- Experiencing stress: All facets of our life, including our sexual lives, are impacted by stress. The onset of SPA can occasionally be attributed to focus at work or other factors.
- Trauma associated with previous bad sexual encounters: You may experience SPA when you have had poor sexual encounters with a previous or current partner.
- Excessive use of pornographic media: This may occasionally cause you to get an incorrect impression of what sex should be like. According to research, you are watching porn might lead to sexual dysfunction.
SPA can occasionally feed off itself and start a vicious cycle. A person first has pre-sex anxiety, which impairs their performance, and then experiences post-sex anxiety, exacerbated by the inability to perform the last time.
Sexual Performance Anxiety Treatment
Sexual performance anxiety is often treated depending on the underlying root cause. In general, the symptoms of this condition may be managed with a mix of sexual performance anxiety medication and psychotherapy.
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy is occasionally advised for the treatment of SPA.
- Sexual performance anxiety Medication: For men with SPA, doctors may advise taking erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra and Cialis.
For sexual performance anxiety to be adequately treated, further study is required. The most successful SPA therapies yet have been cognitive-behavioral therapy and sexual performance anxiety medication. Additionally, buspirone, bupropion, and trazodone have demonstrated promise in treating SPA symptoms.
How do I get rid of Performance anxiety in bed?
To deal with sexual performance anxiety, you must first let go of any guilt you may be experiencing due to your unsatisfactory sex life. Sometimes, sexual performance anxiety fades away with time, especially when it’s brought on by a new partner or a problem with your partner that has been handled.
People who experience sexual performance anxiety frequently harbor the delusion that they are insufficient or unable to satisfy their relationships. Concentrate more on your and your partner’s delight than on how well you performed to overcome the worry.
Here are some other suggestions to help you get over SPA:
- Meditate: Meditation is frequently advised as sexual performance anxiety treatment.
- Masturbate: To understand your needs more clearly, spend some time alone.
- Get out of your head: Try to spend more time enjoying sex than worrying about potential complications.
- Accept that sex isn’t always perfect: You might not always feel ready for sex on some days. Most likely, your physical ability has little to do with this.
- Slow down and take your time: You might not have indulged in foreplay with your lover for long enough on occasion.
- Eliminate stress from your life: Stress about other aspects of your life, such as money or job, contributes to sexual performance anxiety. It can be beneficial to manage stress with exercise, meditation, and adequate sleep.
- Speak to a therapist: You might be able to identify the source of your sexual performance anxiety by speaking with a sex therapist.
Therapy for Sexual Performance Anxiety
Psychotherapy and talk therapy are primary sexual performance anxiety treatments. The most popular form of talk therapy for treating sexual performance anxiety in both men and women is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This approach has been proven to be successful in addressing sexual performance anxiety stemming from several factors.
It may also be possible to utilize systematic desensitization and exposure as sexual performance anxiety treatment to lessen sex-related phobias. The practice of exposure therapy enables a person with sexual performance anxiety to confront their fear in a safe and controlled environment to get over it. The method of systematic desensitization entails both relaxation and gradual exposure.
Why PsychiCare?
Sexual performance anxiety is a pervasive disorder and affects everyone at some point. As the sedentary lifestyle is increasing, the cases of sexual anxiety are growing too. It is common in younger men. Many young men experience sexual anxiety, which is purely psychological and not physical.
These days, porn consumption has become quite common. This gives people unrealistic expectations to people, and they become over-conscious. The meds exacerbate performance anxiety. Especially the ones linked with psychological issues when treated with pills make men reliant on pulls.
These surely help in the short term, but they don’t help in preventing further occurrences. Psychotherapy is a way to rewire your mind about the beliefs built over time. It breaks the walls that the mind creates around sexual performance.
We provide a range of solutions in the domain of sexual performance anxiety, which help you to gain complete control of your life. So contact us today!
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