How does ED affect me as a partner?

Your partner may be experiencing the symptoms of ED, but they're affecting you too. No? Well, do any of the following sound familiar?

  • You're concerned that your partner's ED may be the result of external factors like work stress, or fatigue... issues over which you have little or no control.
  • You're wondering if your partner's ED symptoms are ‘your fault’ and, as a result, you're becoming more reluctant to try again‡‡‡.
  • You want to help, but you're reluctant to raise the issue... to put any extra pressure on your partner.
  • You're waiting for him to talk about it, but the silence just makes everything more awkward.
  • You may even be feeling rejected, unattractive... even unloved.

See what's happening here? Not recognizing that it's most likely a treatable health condition that's causing the symptoms puts you and the entire relationship under a lot of stress.

Anxiety and reluctance, Part 1

In a survey of men and women in 27 countries, 39% of women respondents worried that the ED symptoms their partners had experienced were their fault. The result? 40% admitted that they were hesitant to try again‡‡‡.

‡‡‡A 27-country international consumer survey designed to explore sexual habits and behaviors, particularly the aspirations and unmet needs. Among partners of men who were usually, sometimes or never able to get and keep an erection (n=2805), 39% felt at fault and 40% were hesitant to try again.

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