Psychological turmoil rarely causes erectile dysfunction, but intervention helps prevent and treat it.

In addition, several other lifestyle approaches also help minimize the risk

All these interventions also improve mental health.

Until the 1970s, psychologists, physicians, and the public regarded erectile dysfunction (ED) as a sure sign of deep psychological disturbances. But oddly, psychological interventions—psychotherapy, psychoanalysis—did not provide much relief.

Since the 1970s, a mountain of research has shown that ED’s main cause is not psychological turmoil, but cardiovascular disease (CVD), the cause of heart attack and stroke. CVD narrows the arteries that carry blood throughout the body, including into the penis. Erection depends on increased blood flow into the spongy erectile tissues of the central penis. Anything that inhibits this blood flow, notably CVD, hurts erections, while anything that promotes it firms them.

The link between cardiovascular disease and ED is compelling. A recent review of dozens of studies concluded that ED “has aptly been called the ‘canary in the coal mine’ for heart attack and stroke” because it often develops before either of those cardiovascular emergencies strikes.

Ironically, while most ED is not psychological in origin, psychological interventions offer powerful ways to help prevent and treat it.

Mindfulness Meditation Tames Stress

Emotional stress plays a key role in ED. Stress releases the hormone cortisol, which narrows the arteries, including those in the penis. To reopen them, reduce stress. Psychological interventions help, notably mindfulness meditation, which involves deep breathing and nonjudgmental focus on the........

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