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Taylor says, “I’m 20 years old and experiencing erectile dysfunction. Is this bad? What does this mean?”

Read more to find out what Josh Spurlock, Counselor & Sex Therapist, says about the common causes of erectile dysfunction at a young age, the role anxiety plays, and treatment steps.

CASSIE

Welcome to My Counselor Online. I’m Cassie and this is My Counselor Says. My Counselor Says is where you submit a question, either for yourself, or for a friend,  and one of our incredible therapists takes their time and answers your personal question. So let’s go find out what My Counselor Says.

JOSH SPURLOCK ON THE CAUSES OF ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION AT A YOUNG AGE

Experiencing erectile dysfunction at a young age like that typically means that there’s either something physiological going on, which you want to check with your physician and rule out that there’s a medical condition that you’re experiencing that’s inhibiting your erectile performance; But the more common one that we see in practice is that there’s something psychological or emotional that’s blocking our sexual experience.

ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION AND ANXIETY

Our ability to achieve and maintain an erection is influenced significantly by anxiety and stress. And, in some people’s physiology more than others. And so oftentimes what we’ll find is that there’s an anxiety and stress inhibitor that’s getting in the way of the erectile performance.

HOW TO TREAT ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

If we can identify the emotional and psychological dynamics that are inhibiting us, we can work through those things, so that normal erectile performance is possible.

You’ll want to reach out to somebody after checking with your physician and getting checked out physiologically. Reach out to a sex therapist that can ask you the right questions to diagnose what may be going on, and put together a treatment plan to help you regain the erections and erectile performance that you desire to have in your relationship.

Thanks for your question, Taylor. If you have a question that you want to be answered by one of our counselors, submit it here!