Talking to your partner

If you are diagnosed with erectile dysfunction, feelings of anger and resentment that you may naturally experience may harm your relationship with your partner unless you find a way to communicate them. While these emotions are understandable, it is important to take into account that your partner is also affected by your ED. Moreover, feeling comfortable talking about your relationship and your difficulties contributes to successful diagnosis and treatment. A man who has difficulty sharing and resolving his feelings about ED may make the problem worse.

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The best way to communicate with your partner is to try to get past the initial embarrassment and awkwardness and confront the problem head on. If you have difficulty discussing the topic, counseling may help.

For some couples, sex therapy may help partners support each other and maintain intimacy while coping with ED.

A partner of someone experiencing ED can help by discussing feelings honestly while showing care and concern. Rather than assigning blame, it can be much more effective to take the approach that dealing with the problem will be a team effort. Meantime, you can together explore alternative techniques to find sexual pleasure so that there's no pressure to "perform." Focus on ways to solve ED, rather than how ED affects your relationship. Give your partner positive feedback so that he's willing to discuss his feelings. Remind him that there are many options for successful treatment. If your partner does not succeed initially, encourage him to continue to visit the doctor and explore other options.