Sexual Dysfunctions: What They Are, What Types There Are And How They Are Treated
Sexual dysfunctions are all those situations in which sexual satisfaction or sexual response is affected and this prevents participating in a desired sexual relationship. They affect both men and women and do not have to be associated with age or sexual orientation.
Our sexuality is valued, even if it is private and intimate, as one of the most important aspects of our life. However, it is known to all that throughout history, Human sexuality has been a nest of taboos, prejudices and censorship
The repression of sexuality, which is not good, the curbing of desire and generalized ignorance on the subject not only causes us to not be able to know, express and enjoy our sexuality to the fullest, but on many occasions it causes the appearance of more serious difficulties than They prevent us from that enjoyment and harm our relationships, both as a couple and at a social level, since they damage self-esteem and general satisfaction with life.
Although the statistics are confusing, due to the disagreement that often exists in the classification of sexual dysfunctions, indicate a fairly high prevalence Masters and Johnson, pioneers in human sexuality research in the 1960s, indicated that 50% of heterosexual couples presented some sexual dysfunction.
Currently, according to the Andalusian Institute of Sexology and Psychology (2002), the sexual dysfunction for which most people are consulted is erectile dysfunction, which covers 48% of consultations. Premature ejaculation follows with 28.8% and then hypoactive sexual desire (8%), female anorgasmia (7.4%), vaginismus (1.6%) and male orgasm disorders (0.4%). %).
How can I know if I suffer from any sexual dysfunction?
When you feel discomfort or dissatisfaction regarding your sexual behavior. For me, the dysfunction begins when It is the person themselves who is not comfortable in their relationships, not when the body does not respond as society dictates that it should respond (e.g.: “A real man lasts more than ). That is, it is a subjective perception.
How it interferes with quality of life
Our body is a means to pleasure. If this does not work as we would like, that pleasure will be invaded, and Doesn’t pleasure provide quality of life in every sense? If our sexual relationships do not provide us with satisfaction, we are going to stop having them, when numerous studies say that one of the variables that is associated with sexual satisfaction is the frequency with which we have them, for both men and women.
Furthermore, as is evident, not only the couple’s relationship in bed deteriorates, but also self-confidence, self-esteem deteriorates and, in the case of having a stable partner, communication with them and overall satisfaction with the relationship is also detrimental
As usual, but not the best choice, sexual problems are usually experienced in silence. This only generates serious internal conflicts (and with the couple), consequently reducing the quality of life
Why treatment is important
Sexual dysfunctions often become a vicious cycle. It starts with having an episode in which our body has not reacted the way we wanted (an erection has been lost or not achieved, suddenly we do not feel like having sexual relations, I cannot reach climax or I ejaculate earlier than I would like) .
At the next sexual relationship, you already leave with a certain anticipatory anxiety in your body for fear that it will happen again; This anxiety is what prevents the body from functioning again. Thus, until you stop trying (“totally, I’m not going to enjoy it” or “totally, why am I going to try if I’m not going to succeed?” or “I’m useless” or “I want to satisfy you and I can’t.” ). Anyway, You enter a loop from which it is very difficult to get out and for which, in the vast majority of cases, therapeutic help is needed
Talking about problems related to sexuality produces very complex emotions such as guilt, shame or failure. For this reason, many people and couples find it very difficult to take the step to go to therapy.
We know that it is very difficult, firstly, to accept that you have a problem that is usually embarrassing to admit to yourself and to others, and secondly, dare to ask for help Many couples go an average of 3 years without talking about solving the problem and go 5 years before they go to therapy.
The main reason why it is important to treat them is because problems in bed cause emotional pain (and physical pain in some dysfunctions) that can affect self-esteem and your quality of life in general. It is important that you do not let the emotions we talked about before invade you and they don’t let you put an end to that vicious circle, since they are precisely the ones who feed it.
