The psychological correlates of psychogenic impotence: A retrospective comparison of psychologenically and organically impotent men

Abstract

Although there are psychogenic consequences of impotence for all impotent men, it is assumed that the psychogenic causes of impotence will only be evident in those men diagnosed as psychogenically impotent. Research into the psychogenic causes of impotence has been sparse. We developed a model of psychogenic impotence, and compared a group of organically impotent men and a group of psychogenically impotent men. Ninety subjects were selected from those referred to our multi-disciplinary sexual dysfunction clinic. It was hypothesised that psychogenically impotent men would score higher in the categories of problems with sexuality, interactional problems, lovemaking and relationship problems, companionship, friendship and partnership problems, problems in the family situation, and life stresses: and, that organically impotent men would score higher in the health problems category. The results suggested that interactional problems between patient and partner were common to both diagnostic groups, and that in all other categories (with the exception of health problems) psychogenically impotent men experienced more difficulty (p<.05). Organically impotent men, as expected, exhibited more health problems (p<.05); however, a large number of psychogenically impotent patients suffered from the same health problems. It was suggested that some psychogenically impotent men suffered from an insidious organic deterioration which was undectable at the time of diagnosis, and that with the progress of time, the diagnosis of some of these patients might change to organic impotence.