[Psychologic causes of erectile dysfunction].
The authors discuss the most frequent psychological causes of impaired erectility. The most important psychogenic factors for the development and persistence of erectile impairment is in their opinion anticipative anxiety, performance orientation, the partner's negative reaction to rare failure, the observer's attitude, antisexual upbringing, monotony of sexual intercourse, persisting sexual myths and unsuitable attitudes, impaired communication of the couple, different sexual preferences,psychic and sexual traumas and pathological mental conditions. However, as personality characteristics of the patient and the quality of his partnership may play a decisive part in the development of this disorder the authors feel that it is a mistake to confine the diagnosis and treatment only to the area of sexual reactivity and sexual behaviour.