Comment Ruby

Discussion

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Sexual Dysfunctions

The focus of this discussion shall be a sexual dysfunction. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, sexual dysfunctions are basically a heterogenous group of disorders that are characterized by clinically significant disturbance in the ability of an individual to respond sexually or even to experience sexual pleasure (APA, 2013). Sexual expression as well as sexual health are very important aspects of a life of any individual. In fact, it is without a doubt that scholars now recognize sexual health and sexual expression as important aspects of quality of life as well as well-being of an individual (Gore-Gorszewska, 2020). Therefore, it is important to say that when an individual is suffering from a particular sexual dysfunction, their quality of life is significantly affected and they need an evidence-based intervention in order to improve on their wellness. The sexual dysfunction that shall be discussed is erectile disorder. Once the diagnostic criteria have been presented, the available evidence-based psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological interventions for the disorder shall be discussed.

In order to diagnose erectile disorder, the client should either complain of marked difficulty in obtaining an erection during sexual activity, difficulty in maintaining an erection from the start to the completion of the sexual activity or significant decrease in erectile rigidity. The client can complain about at least one of these symptoms. These difficulties need to have been experienced in at least 75% of all occasions. This should either be in an identified situation or a generalized context. The complaint should have persisted for at least 6 months and should have caused significant clinical distress to the individual. It is very important to rule out other causes of the erectile disorder such as other mental health illnesses, relationship distress as well as other stressors. There is also need to make sure that the difficulties as elaborates are not caused by the use of alcohol or other drugs and substances (APA, 2013).

It is important to specify whether the disturbance has been lifelong, since the client started being sexually active or acquired, meaning that the client had a period of normalcy in as far as their sexual activities are concerned. The context is also very important. It could be generalized, meaning that the problem is not specific to a stimulation, a situation or a partner. The opposite is that it may be situational such as when the problem is limited to a particular partner. In addition, the erectile dysfunction is mild, moderate or severe depending on the level of distress caused by the disturbance as already described (APA, 2013). In diagnosing the problem, some health providers require that tests should be done such as morning testosterone assay especially if it is suspected that the cause is hypogonadism (Sooriyamoorthy & Leslie, 2020).

Evidence-Based Treatment

Treatment for erectile disorder can be implemented in different ways. When psychotherapy is chosen, the use of cognitive behavioral sex therapy has been proven to have promising results especially in young men that have nonorganic erectile dysfunction (Bilal, 2020). The psychopharmacological intervention that ha been proved to be effective is an antidepressant. This is Bupropion. In fact, it helps in cases that include erectile dysfunction that is caused by other antidepressants (Razaei et al., 2018). Most medications that are used may not be psychopharmacological agents. It is always important to understand the cause for the erectile disorder before selecting the best choice that is evidence-based and acceptable to the patient.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub.

Bilal, A. (2020). Cognitive Behavioral Sex Therapy: An Emerging Treatment Option for Nonorganic Erectile Dysfunction in Young Men: A Feasibility Pilot Study. Sexual Medicine, 8(3), 396-407

Gore-Gorszewska, G. (2020). “Why not ask the doctor?” Barriers in help-seeking for sexual problems among older adults in Poland. International journal of public health, 65(8), 1507-1515

Rezaei, O., Fadai, F., Sayadnasiri, M., Palizvan, M. A., Armoon, B., & Noroozi, M. (2018). The effect of bupropion on sexual function in patients with Schizophrenia: A randomized clinical trial. The European Journal of Psychiatry, 32(1), 11-15.

Sooriyamoorthy, T., & Leslie, S. W. (2020). Erectile Dysfunction (Impotence). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562253/