Psychological factors alone may not fully explain some cases of apparently purely psychogenic acute situational impotence. Chronic impotence is often due to a combination of aetiological factors. Erectile selectivity is not a reliable means of diagnosing purely psychogenic impotence. Nocturnal penile tumescence monitoring is not absolutely reliable in making a distinction between organic and psychogenic impotence. The either/or concept of impotence being organic or psychogenic should be abandoned as serious errors can be made by adhering to it.
References
1.
HastingsD. W. (1967) Sexual potency disorders of the male. In A Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry (Eds FreedmanA. M.KaplanH. I.) Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore.
2.
Fischer-WilliamsM.NiglA. J.SovineD. L. (1981) A Textbook of Biological Feedback. Human Sciences Press, New York.
3.
WagnerG.GreenR. (1981) Impotence. Physiological, Psychological, Surgical Diagnosis and Treatment. Plenum, New York.
4.
ZorgniottiA. W.RossiG.PadulaG. (1980) Diagnosis and therapy of vasculogenic impotence. Journal of Urology, 123, 674–677.
5.
SparkR. F.WhiteR. A.ConnollyP. B. (1980) Impotence is not always psychogenic: newer insights into hypothalamic—pituitary-gonadal dysfunction. Journal of the American Medical Association, 243, 750–755.
6.
TudoriuT.BourmerH. (1983) The haemodynamics of erection at the level of the penis and its location deterioration. Journal of Urology, 129, 741–745.
7.
WagnerG.MetzP. (1980) Impotence (erectile dysfunction) due to vascular disorders. An overview. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 6, 223–233.
8.
ZorgniottiA. W. (1979) Elevated penile blood pressures in patients with premature ejaculation. Urology, 13, 185.
9.
WassermanM. D.PollakC. P.SpielmanA. J. (1980) Theoretical and technical problems in the measurement of nocturnal penile tumescence for the differential diagnosis of impotence. Psychosomatic Medicine, 42, 575–585.
10.
RooseS. P.GlassmanA. H.WalshB. T. (1982) Reversible loss of nocturnal penile tumescence during depression: a preliminary report. Neuropsychobiology, 8, 284–288.
11.
KaracanI.SalisP. J. (1980) Diagnosis and treatment of erectile impotence. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 3, 97–111.