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The relationship between depression and erectile dysfunction

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Abstract

Normal sexual function is a biopsychosocial process; sexual dysfunction almost always has organic and psychologic components, and it requires multidisciplinary, goal-directed evaluation and treatment. Factors such as aging, declining testosterone levels, medical illness, certain medications, and comorbid depressive illness can contribute to sexual dysfunction. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the most common male sexual dysfunction encountered in the clinical setting. Comorbidity between ED and depressive illness is high, but the causal relationship is unclear, and likely bidirectional. In this article, we review the existing literature on the relationship between depression and ED.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 98, 10032, New York, NY, USA

    Stuart N. Seidman MD & Steven P. Roose MD

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  1. Stuart N. Seidman MD
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  2. Steven P. Roose MD
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Seidman, S.N., Roose, S.P. The relationship between depression and erectile dysfunction. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2, 201–205 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-996-0008-0

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