Specific aspects of erectile dysfunction in psychiatry

The participation of the psychiatrist in the management of erectile dysfunction (ED) is focused on three types of patients based on the origin of the dysfunction: (1) patients with functional or psychogenic ED, (2) patients with mixed, organic psychogenic ED, and (3) patients with ED and active psychopathology. The second group is influenced by three psychological factors: perpetuating factors, aggravating factors, and accompanying factors. The main psychopathological disorders that interfere directly with the erectile mechanism are depressive disorders (18-35%), anxiety disorders (37%), obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychotic disorders (46-47%), and the antipsychotic medications used to treat these disorders. The diagnostic proposal includes psychological and sexologic evaluation and differential diagnosis. The therapeutic proposal includes the basic principles of sex therapy in the model of behavioral-cognitive therapy (eg, prohibition of intercourse, sensate focus, voluntary loss of erections, no expectations about response), pharmacological therapy (eg, sildenafil, intracavernous injection of vasoactive drugs), and a combination of both therapies.