Inability to experience arousal or achieve sexual satisfaction under ordinary circumstances, as a result of psychological or physiological problems. The most common sexual dysfunctions have traditionally been referred to as impotence (applied to males) and frigidity (females), but these terms have gradually been replaced by more specific terms. Most sexual dysfunctions can be overcome through use of counseling, psychotherapy, or drug therapy.
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Inability to achieve or maintain erection of the penis; hence, inability to participate fully in sexual intercourse. Erectile impotence (failure to achieve erection) may have either physical causes (e.g., alcoholism, endocrine disease) or psychological ones (e.g., anxiety, hostility toward the partner). Ejaculatory impotence (inability to reach orgasm, sometimes with an erection maintained for a long time) nearly always has an emotional cause. Seealso Viagra.
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