The mechanisms and understanding of male sexual dysfunction
4.
Why do men experience sexual dysfunction?
Normal male sexual function includes five stages: sexual arousal (i.e., libido), penile erection, intercourse, orgasm, and ejaculation. These processes are extremely complex reflex processes, involving the nervous system, endocrine system, circulatory system, sensory organs, and a healthy mental and psychological state, and are accomplished through healthy sexual organs.
In other words, sexual activity is orchestrated by the brain to perform the aforementioned functions.
The brain contains a sexual function center, and the spinal cord contains a center specifically responsible for penile erection and ejaculation. It connects with the reproductive organs through sensory and motor nerves to form a reflex activity.
Therefore, male sexual function is a complex physiological process. If any of the above-mentioned links is impaired, it will cause abnormalities or lack of sexual behavior and sexual sensation. When it affects the perfection of sexual function, it is usually called male sexual dysfunction.
5.
How to understand sexual dysfunction
Human sexual activity is gradually learned and developed only after puberty, requiring a considerable period of social life.
Its emergence is clearly influenced by one's own living environment and experiences, which shapes each person's different sexual awareness and sexual concepts.
Therefore, the ways in which sexual behavior is expressed vary greatly, and the sexual problems people encounter are naturally diverse.
How should we understand sexual dysfunction? Strictly speaking, there is no clear quantitative standard for whether sexual function is normal or not, so we only consider severe incompleteness of sexual function and sexual satisfaction as sexual dysfunction.
The medical community can classify them from different perspectives, such as organic versus psychological; primary versus secondary; complete versus situational, etc.
Sexual dysfunction is a common disease that often leads to serious consequences such as marital discord or divorce, and causes severe physical and psychological trauma to patients, thus receiving widespread attention from society.
The rapid development of medical knowledge has created favorable conditions for people to overcome various sexual obstacles.
6.
How do various diseases cause sexual dysfunction?
Complete sexual function should include the following five aspects: normal libido, adequate erection and intercourse, proper ejaculation, and sensation during orgasm.
All diseases lead to sexual dysfunction by affecting one of the above-mentioned processes.
If a patient experiences decreased libido, generally speaking, apart from surgery, endocrine system and sexual organ diseases, the decreased libido is caused by the mental stress resulting from the illness.
As long as the primary disease can be cured, the patient's libido can gradually recover.
Because anxiety and mental stress about the illness can not only decrease a patient's libido, but also affect their erectile function, manifesting as weak erections and premature ejaculation. Sometimes, even after recovery, sexual dysfunction can persist for a long time because the patient's psychological state has not been adjusted.
In addition, erectile dysfunction can also be caused by certain physiological effects of the disease and the effects of medications.
In some cases, fractures, acute damage to internal organs, etc., may make it difficult for patients to perform familiar or habitual sexual activities, or the function of certain parts may be reduced or even lost due to the disease, which may also hinder patients from performing sexual activities in the past, thus causing ejaculation disorders and discomfort during sexual activity.
However, these two types of problems in a patient's sex life can generally be remedied through various means in an acceptable manner.
Many patients recovering from life-threatening illnesses and their partners often develop a fear of sexual activity, fearing that it might aggravate or worsen their condition.
This situation often occurs not only during illness, but also when the patient has gradually recovered.
Patients and their partners often experience negative feelings such as tension and guilt regarding sex and sexual desire due to fear of risks. Unmet sexual needs may also complicate the relationship between partners, and the disease often becomes a convenient excuse for them to avoid sex.
7.
Male sexual function testing standards
The criteria for judging a man's sexual ability do not depend on his height, weight, the amount of acne on his face, the size of his genitals, or the amount of facial hair.
Generally speaking, the strength of a man's sexual ability is related to when he begins puberty.
The earlier a male begins puberty, the stronger his sexual ability will be before the age of 45, the more frequent his sexual activity will be, the shorter the intervals between sexual encounters will be, and the longer his sexual activity will likely last.
8.
Classifying male sexual behavior as normal or abnormal
From a purely biological point of view, normal sexual behavior is for the purpose of procreation.
Conversely, any sexual behavior that is not directed toward this purpose can be considered abnormal sexual behavior.
However, humans are advanced animals, and their sexual behavior is not merely a simple biological reflection, but also includes complex psychological states, ideological and cultural consciousness, and social concepts. Therefore, normal human sexual behavior has a holistic biological, psychological, and social nature.
In reality, normal human sexual behavior should be the sum of all behaviors that conform to both the biological principles between men and women, with the penis and vagina as the primary components, and the current ideological, cultural, and social moral norms.
Anything that contradicts this can be called abnormal sexual behavior or sexual perversion.
Abnormal sexual behaviors, such as abnormal sexual partners or abnormal sexual purposes, can be called paraphilias.