If you’ve begun experiencing ED, you may feel ashamed or angry or any number of emotions. Those emotions might only increase when you think about sharing the news with a partner. Although no one can predict how your partner will react, there’s no reason to worry. A decent person will understand. To make the conversation easier, here are some tips.
If you’ve had the condition officially diagnosed, your doctor may have some pointers on how to begin the conversation. Your doctor may have pamphlets or other literature you can share with your partner.
When you share your medical results with your partner, you can then discuss your future treatment. That way, both of you will know what to expect. Your partner may also be able to accompany you to the doctor, if that’s something that interests both of you.
You can also discuss the ways your newly-diagnosed condition may affect your sex life, if it hasn’t already. There are ways to have a satisfying sex life that don’t depend on your feeling like you have to perform. You can find them together.
Most importantly, you should keep communicating. Shame is an emotion that thrives in the shadows. If you can find a way to be open and honest with each other, you can keep negative emotions like that at bay. You should also consider seeing a counselor together.
If you are not the partner who is experiencing ED, you can support your partner by first learning about the condition. Once you’ve educated yourself, talk to your partner and keep talking to him. Let him know that ED isn’t a judgment of him and that nothing (else) about him has changed.
This is a common condition and there are many treatments available. Although the initial news may be disheartening to you, you will be able to find a way to get through it. Just keep talking to each other, because there are other important forms of intimacy outside the bedroom.
