The Relationship Between Depression and Erectile Dysfunction

Clinically there is often such a part of the patient, they often describe themselves as: moody, unhappy, not interested in anything, frustrated, very sad, very helpless, desperate, depressed and empty. Family members often describe them as pessimistic, negative, lazy, sullen, weepy, moody, unsmiling, inefficient and cynical. These patients have a wide range of emotional and physical discomforts, and have been to several hospitals, but repeated examinations have not found a clear organic cause. They may be depressed! What is depression? Depression itself is a normal negative emotional response in the face of loss or misfortune. Subjective manifestations are: sadness, grief, frustration, hopelessness, despair, loneliness, and lack of desire. It may be accompanied by suicidality; the external manifestations are sadness and pain, and a tendency to cry. Pathological depression means that there is no corresponding loss or misfortune objectively, or the event is not commensurate with the severity of its reaction; it is more intense than normal and lasts longer (more than 2 weeks). Pathological depression is harmful. These patients’ thinking points to the past with self-blame, guilt, trauma memories, and negative cognitions; often accompanied by somatic symptoms, anxiety symptoms; and psychotic symptoms. Depressive somatic symptoms include: 1, head and face: drooping mouth, frowning, drooping head, stooping and arching back, persistent unsmiling face, headache and head swelling, waking up early, sleeping too much; 2, neck and chest: dysphagia, tightness of chest, shortness of breath, panic attacks, chest pain; 3, abdomen: loss of appetite, refusal to eat, weight loss (more than 5% in a month) constipation, abdominal distension, epigastric discomfort, 4, frequent urination, lack of sexual desire, impotence, and Amenorrhea. Premenstrual depression aggravated with dysmenorrhea. 5, generalized body and limbs: body discomfort, changeable parts, chronic pain. Fear of cold, night sweating and hot flashes. Weakness, more bedridden. 6, depression symptoms include: depressed mood, slow thinking and motor inhibition 7, depressed mood: that is, not happy, always sad sadness, even pessimism and despair. Like all day frowning and sighing, not moving tears of Lin Daiyu. Lack of interest, do not go out, do not watch TV. Hobby stop. 8, slow thinking: that is, the conscious brain is not good, can not remember things, thinking about problems difficult. Few words, feel the brain empty, become stupid. Can’t do it. 9, motor inhibition: is not love activities, lazy body, extreme fatigue. Walking slowly. Serious can not eat and immobile, life can not take care of themselves. Lack of motivation, easy to fatigue. From the above, the manifestation of depression can make people lose all kinds of joy of life, not only affect the mood of the individual, but also affect the physical state. Some studies show that about 25% to 90% of men with depression have different degrees of erectile dysfunction. For depressed patients, erectile dysfunction may be caused by psychological or physical factors, or both. Erectile dysfunction can exacerbate feelings of depression in most men, causing them to lose self-esteem, have a low self-image, and feel anxious, as well as straining their relationship with their spouse. These negative feelings can be exacerbated, making it more difficult to achieve an erection. The cause of depression-induced erectile dysfunction is not well understood, but most of these patients can recover their erectile function after antidepressant treatment. Of course, it is also important to note that the side effects of antidepressants themselves can also cause erectile dysfunction. From a clinical point of view, both depression and anxiety in this pathological state can lead to male sexual function, especially erectile dysfunction. Many diseases in men (such as chronic prostatitis) are prone to anxiety and depression state, it and the disease of mutual causation, each other, a vicious circle, so in the diagnosis and treatment of male diseases, the doctor and the patient themselves should pay attention to anxiety and depression, can be through the Hamilton scale for patients to self-measurement or doctor assessment, when appropriate, with the addition of anti-anxiety, antidepressant treatment is necessary. Anxiety Symptoms – Mental Symptoms 1. Hyperarousal: excessive alertness; inner insecurity (trepidation), startle response; sensitivity-irritability, irritability; short sleep, decreased quality (characterized by lack of a sense of sleep); lack of concentration; inner experience: anticipatory anxiety experience Generalized anxiety experience: i.e., anxiety in a wide range of situations or events, no matter how big or small; nameless anxiety; 2. Thinking: non-realistic assessment of self and environmental dangers; Behavior: avoidance behaviors; restlessness in movement (small purposeless movements); inability to sit still; state of mind: irritability, irritable, fearfulness, and worry; 3. Anxiety of an overriding nature so that the patient thinks of virtually nothing but anxiety, listens to nothing, watches nothing, or even watches television. , can’t watch, and even watch TV for a while without knowing what’s going on. Anxiety symptoms – physical symptoms 1, sternal constriction; 2, hyperventilation: fainting, episodes of asthma without purple, feeling abnormal, hands and feet twitching and drowning; 3, muscle tension: fatigue, pain, stiffness, trembling; 4, sympathetic arousal: tachycardia, blanchiness, dry mouth, sweating, chills or fever, anorexia, distension, diarrhea, urinary frequency , difficulty in whistling or sense of breath-holding. Pupil dilation, elevated blood pressure, sexual dysfunction.