Sexual performance anxiety can affect romantic relationships. Know how to deal with it for a healthy sex life.
Sexual activity anxiety is a type of anxiety that causes extreme worry or fear about sexual activity before or during sexual intercourse. Many people feel nervous before having sex. The root cause could be anything. It may be triggered by having sex for the first time, having body image issues, fearing pain, or worrying about not being able to meet sexual expectations. If sexual performance anxiety persists for a long time, it can make it difficult to engage sexually with a partner, and lack of sexual activity can eventually strain emotional relationships.
Fortunately, there are several ways to address these concerns that can help you overcome sexual anxiety.
What is sexual performance anxiety?
Sexual desire should occur as naturally as feeling hungry and eating food or feeling thirsty and quenching that thirst with water. Likewise, having sex is a natural act and their level of performance should not be questioned. However, if you feel less confident and stressed, you may worry about sexual activity and feel anxious during it. Dr. Sanjay Kumawat, a psychiatrist and sexologist, says this can affect performance as the mind diverts.
Wondering how stressful or anxious thoughts affect your sexual performance? When you feel anxious, your body begins to produce more cortisol, the stress hormone, in response. When cortisol levels spike, levels of the sex hormone testosterone decrease, resulting in decreased libido or libido. Sometimes medications taken to treat anxiety or depression can also harm your sex drive.
![sexual performance anxiety sexual performance anxiety](https://images.healthshots.com/healthshots/en/uploads/2024/04/19224649/New-Project-40-1-370x207.jpg)
Symptoms of Sexual Behavior Anxiety
Like performance anxiety, this type of anxiety can affect you both mentally and physically. People who struggle with sexual anxiety often become overwhelmed by sex-related thoughts and become caught in a cycle of negative thoughts or fear of encountering problems related to sexual activity. This can happen before or during sexual intercourse.
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result? Men may have difficulty maintaining an erection (erectile dysfunction), climax, or ejaculate. Some people, regardless of gender, may lose interest in sex altogether. Sometimes severe anxiety can manifest itself physically in the form of palpitations, upset stomach, and tremors. Some of the common sexual performance anxiety symptoms include:
• Inability to orgasm during sex.
• Vaginal dryness
• Painful sex
What causes sexual anxiety?
People may have limiting beliefs about their sexual behavior or a variety of fears and experiences that can affect their sex lives. Causes of sexual performance anxiety include:
• Feeling insecure about your partner's sexual expectations or satisfaction.
• I worry about how my masculine or feminine energy will manifest during sex.
• Low self-esteem or body image issues.
• Lack of physical or emotional attraction to a partner.
• You may feel anxious due to past negative sexual experiences.
• Fear or anxiety about sexual trauma.
How Sexual Anxiety Affects Relationships
Lack of sex due to performance anxiety can have a negative impact on romantic relationships. Couples who have more sexual activity tend to have deeper intimacy and lower divorce rates, according to this Sage Journal study.
Not being able to have or enjoy sex can make your partner feel less connected and intimate. This may cause tension in your relationship with your partner, who may question his or her care for you. People suffering from this anxiety become wary of their partners, destroying trust and intimacy.
![sexual performance anxiety sexual performance anxiety](https://images.healthshots.com/healthshots/en/uploads/2024/04/19224754/New-Project-41-370x207.jpg)
How to deal with sexual anxiety?
Anxiety stems from negative thinking patterns or worries about upcoming events. As with other forms of anxiety, the best way to deal with sexual performance anxiety is to learn how to identify your triggers and find ways to relieve stress to manage the negative thoughts and emotions that affect your sex life. Some of the coping mechanisms include:
• You can try mindfulness meditation to become aware of your thoughts and desires related to sex.
• Yoga can also help you curb stress and improve your mind-body relationship.
• Indulge in masturbation to get a better idea of what you enjoy and what you do not enjoy during sex.
• Seeking professional help from a sex therapist can help you identify the thoughts and feelings that are causing your sexual anxiety.
• Open communication with your partner can help you manage performance anxiety by better understanding your partner's feelings and challenges around sex. This can help puncture the bubbles that are preventing you from enjoying sex, such as body image issues or performance issues.
• Indulge in more foreplay to improve intimacy.
• In most cases, it is body image issues that interfere with sexual activity and self-doubt. It is important to understand sexual physiology and anatomy from a counselor if it is not already known. This includes understanding the timing of arousal and orgasm in men and women, which can help dispel any myths about sexual behavior, experts say.
• Early traumatic experiences can be resolved through counseling. However, if difficulties persist, medical intervention for anxiety symptoms may be necessary. If premature ejaculation problems persist, behavioral therapy and medication may be necessary. In case of partial erection, a medical examination and specific investigations are required after consulting a doctor, experts say.
Accept that sex isn't always perfect. Sometimes it takes women longer to reach orgasm. That's how their bodies are built.
Other ways to revitalize your sex life include:
• Hugging
• kiss
• hug
• Holding hands
• Have fun with each other
Treatment for sexual anxiety
The intensity of sexual performance anxiety largely depends on the underlying cause. There is limited scientific research on the success of these treatments. However, a combination of therapy and treatment may be helpful.
1. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT is a type of talk therapy that allows you to express your feelings and concerns about your performance during sex. Communicating your concerns to your therapist can help you arrive at a common approach to treating your sexual anxiety.
CBT helps people reframe negative thoughts about sex that make it difficult to have or enjoy good sex. This will help you identify your triggers while focusing your energy on dismantling old beliefs.
2. Couple therapy
Receiving couples therapy can help people improve sexual function by helping them communicate their feelings with their partner and identify the root causes of their feelings that may be affecting sexual function. This type of therapy focuses on the entire couple, not just the partner suffering from sexual anxiety.
This approach can help eradicate the shame, fear, and miscommunication that exists between couples. Create solutions to address underlying issues while also making room for open dialogue related to emotional distress or negative triggers.
3. Drugs
Some types of medications can help curb male problems such as erectile dysfunction. Unlike other medications that reduce sexual desire, some anxiety medications may be suggested to increase sexual arousal and libido.