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Sexual dysfunction in both men and women can entail certain biological, psychosocial and relationship risk factors. Oftentimes this problem can be a combination of these risk factors. The biological risk factors can be direct or indirect in nature.
Regarding direct biological risk factors, there are a lot of factors that affect the sexual health of the person. They can include:
Medications – The side effects of certain medicines can disrupt the normal sexual function of both sexes by affecting the desire, arousal, or orgasm in both women and men.
Alcohol – Medical experts have determined that heavy alcohol use is a risk factor for sexual dysfunction.
Hormone levels – The level of a woman’s or man’s hormone (estrogen in women and testosterone in men) can affect sexual function.
Diabetes – It’s been firmly established that diabetes severely impacts blood flow. Some diabetics even suffer from nerve damage because of their disease. The nerve damage and poor blood flow can result in erectile dysfunction in men and vaginal dryness in women.
Vascular disease – A person with vascular condition usually experiences poor blood circulation. Since we are aware that for women and men to become sexually aroused more blood flow to the genital organs is needed. Furthermore, vascular disease can force the blood that has entered into the genital organs to slowly escape.
The indirect biological risk factors that lead to sexual dysfunction can involve certain lifestyle predilections and the natural aging process. Tobacco smoking, for example, can indirectly increase risk because it likewise ups the chances of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. which are deemed direct biologic risk factors.
In terms of psychosocial risk factors, they can involve psychological conditions like:
Negative perspective towards sex – Examples of these include viewing sex in marriage as exclusively for procreative purposes, premarital sex is immoral and so is masturbation.
Maladaptive thoughts – Being distracted during a sexual activity
Emotional problems – Anxiety, stress, depression
Poor lifestyle – Eating disorders, drug abuse
Religious, ethnic or racial background can also affect what we think and expect with regard to sex. The risk factor will exist if these beliefs and expectations toward sex are negative. The state of relationship of the individual (whether it’s good or not) can also be a risk factor for either positively affecting or worsening sexual dysfunction. Lastly ignorance (lack of education) regarding normal sexual functioning can be considered a risk factor for having sexual dysfunction.
Each type of sexual dysfunction has its own specific symptoms. Sexual dysfunction can likewise be lifelong (the symptoms do not go away); can be acquired (symptoms have just recently arisen); generalized (which means the symptoms are experienced always not just during a sexual activity); meaning the symptoms occur in all situations); or situational (symptoms arise only in certain occasions).