Artwork for podcast Sexual Health For Men
How To Beat Performance Anxiety
Episode 29529th July 2025 • Sexual Health For Men • Dr. Anne Truong
00:00:00 00:12:54

Share Episode

Shownotes

Ever wonder why everything seems fine physically, but things still fall apart in the bedroom? You’re not alone, and the reason might not be what you think.

In this episode, we take a closer look at performance anxiety, a silent, but powerful force that affects more men than you’d imagine. We’ll explore how the mind plays a major role in your ability to perform and why fixing the body isn’t always enough. You’ll also get a sneak peek into one of the most effective solutions out there: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

If you’ve been searching for real answers and lasting change, don’t miss this one. Tune in now because you’re just one episode away from understanding what’s really holding you back.

--------------

If you liked this episode, please SUBSCRIBE, like, leave a comment, and share so we can keep bringing you valuable content that gets results!

--------------

Curious about how you can boost your bedroom game and build lasting confidence? Check out the course at getwoodnow.com and start your journey to feeling like yourself again!

--------------

If you enjoyed this episode and want to learn more and get more tips, subscribe to The Modern Man newsletter for exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox! https://dranne.co/themodernman

--------------

Follow Me On:

--------------

For all links and resources mentioned on the show and where to subscribe to the podcast, please visit https://sexualhealthformenpodcast.storychief.io/performance-anxiety-treatment-cbt-erectile-dysfunction

--------------

Want to regain control of your sex life? It’s time to reverse the effects of ED on your life. Join the Modern Man Club and embark on your journey to complete recovery and community.

--------------

Reveal the FREE treatment most men ignore that solves thousands of erectile dysfunction cases every year, plus the 5 biggest mistakes you must avoid if you want to say goodbye to your ED. Uncover it all in my free eBook, available to download now.

https://dranne.co/ebook

Transcripts

Speaker:

This podcast is for you, the Modern Man. I'm Dr Anne Truong,

Speaker:

your host. I'm an intimate health medical doctor and best

Speaker:

selling author of the book, Erectile Dysfunction Fix. I'll

Speaker:

do a deep dive into sexual health and performance and how

Speaker:

it affects men of all ages and backgrounds. So let's get

Speaker:

started, and be sure to visit my website at

Speaker:

sexualhealthformenpodcast.com for more information and

Speaker:

resources from the show. See you on the inside.

Speaker:

Hello there, Modern Man. I'm Dr Anne Truong. I'm a sexual health

Speaker:

specialist, treated over 7000 men. Have you ever wondered what

Speaker:

you need to do if you have performance anxiety that you

Speaker:

feel like you're lost? Well, in today's episode, we're gonna

Speaker:

talk about what you need to do to get effective treatment for

Speaker:

performance anxiety.

Speaker:

So what is performance anxiety? Performance anxiety is a feeling

Speaker:

of panic, feeling of worry, feeling of anxiety when you're

Speaker:

about to get it on, because maybe you had past experience in

Speaker:

that didn't go well and you didn't perform, or maybe someone

Speaker:

has made a comment, negative comment, that kind of lingers on

Speaker:

here (the brain). It's almost like a little PTSD, that you

Speaker:

keep thinking about and reliving over and over again. And the

Speaker:

reason why I'm talking about this is because I see this a lot

Speaker:

in my patients in the office, as well as in our coaching groups,

Speaker:

the Modern Man Club. Is that performance anxiety almost

Speaker:

follow physical erectile dysfunction, and then even if we

Speaker:

treat the physical part of ED, the performance anxiety still

Speaker:

somewhat linger, because it's in here (the brain). And the reason

Speaker:

why I stress that is because the largest sexual organ for you to

Speaker:

get the erection is really come from the brain. And even if we

Speaker:

work together and I treat erection, and then the erection

Speaker:

has better flow, but if the brain is not treated, then no

Speaker:

erection can happen.

Speaker:

So I try want to focus on today's session on performance

Speaker:

anxiety, and what's the research is showing and what I feel that

Speaker:

you need to know so that way you can find resources to help you.

Speaker:

And I feel that every man that has ED had some component of

Speaker:

performance anxiety. Now there is a treatment is primarily

Speaker:

recommended for men with ED with performance anxiety, and that is

Speaker:

called CBT, C like cat, B like a boy, T, like tall. CBT stands

Speaker:

for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and it stands out as

Speaker:

the most effective intervention because it directly addresses

Speaker:

the psychological mechanism that maintain performance anxiety and

Speaker:

affect erectile function. And researcher demonstrate that CBT

Speaker:

specifically targets the cognitive and behavioral factors

Speaker:

that create and perpetuate the anxiety performance cycle. Now

Speaker:

performance anxiety creates a vicious cycle where fear of

Speaker:

sexual failure lead to increased stress and anxiety, and then

Speaker:

anxiety causes physiological changes, including reduced blood

Speaker:

flow to the penis. And then poor sexual performance reinforces

Speaker:

the original fear, creating a self perpetuating cycle. And you

Speaker:

need to know that, because the further you think about your

Speaker:

erection, the more stress you're gonna get. And when stress is

Speaker:

high, erection goes down. Because when stress is high,

Speaker:

that's when you activate the sympathetic nervous system. And

Speaker:

at the sympathetic nervous system will lose the blood from

Speaker:

your penis out to your arms and your legs. So stress decrease

Speaker:

blood flow to your penis. CBT break this cycle that I just

Speaker:

mentioned, of the cycle of fear, failure, anxiety and poor

Speaker:

performance, and it reframe. CBT help men by reframe the negative

Speaker:

thought patterns and then help you develop healthier coping

Speaker:

mechanism to deal with performance anxiety. Studies

Speaker:

have shown in the landmark study, men receiving CBT

Speaker:

alongside with low dose PDE-5 inhibitors such as tadalafil

Speaker:

shows continued improvement in their ED months after CBT

Speaker:

treatment has finished. While those receiving just medication

Speaker:

alone without the CBT shows no further improvement or even

Speaker:

decline. Decline even if you stay just the medication alone.

Speaker:

Now, CBT has shown to reduce not only ED symptoms, but also

Speaker:

anxiety and depression that co-exist as well, and I want to

Speaker:

mention and stress at this point is that combining CBT with

Speaker:

breathing that I talk about, check out the episode where I

Speaker:

talk about breathing out of erection, where there are

Speaker:

several mechanism of breathing that will help lower your heart

Speaker:

rate. When your heart rate is lower, stress is lower, erection

Speaker:

comes back. Heart rate high, no erection. So the breathing

Speaker:

technique that I talk about, the box breathing technique where

Speaker:

you breathe in for four, you hold it for four, and you

Speaker:

breathe out to your mouth for four, and then you hold for

Speaker:

four. But make sure you breathe into your nose, because if you

Speaker:

go into your nose and go to the nasal sinuses up here, which

Speaker:

then help you create more nitric oxide. Breatheing to the nose,

Speaker:

help you create more nitric oxide. Nitric oxide bring in

Speaker:

more blood flow. And also box breathing will also decrease

Speaker:

your heart rate as well. So decrease heart rate, nitric

Speaker:

oxide, erection, all right? But high heart rate, stress,

Speaker:

decrease erection.

Speaker:

So the key CBT component addresses performance anxiety at

Speaker:

this point. So keep that in mind, that if you mix it with

Speaker:

breathing that I talk about, and then maybe just low dose, five

Speaker:

milligrams of tadalafil or Cialis daily will actually treat

Speaker:

your ED, and it may even last once you finish the therapy.

Speaker:

Now, how long should you do CBT therapy? Between 8 to 12 weekly

Speaker:

sessions for optimal results. About two to three months.

Speaker:

Pretty fast if you're with a partner doing a couple days.

Speaker:

You're also going to be given homework and exercises. And CBT

Speaker:

addresses the root cause of performance anxiety, and it has

Speaker:

longer lasting effect beyond just medication, and, of course,

Speaker:

no side effects, and it's holistic. You can even do this

Speaker:

on Zoom. You don't even need to come in and see a therapist in

Speaker:

the office. So where can you find therapists that are

Speaker:

certified? I really like therapists that are certified by

Speaker:

the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors,

Speaker:

and Therapists. Now the AA is certified sex therapist, and the

Speaker:

very rigorous process, they spend 150 hours on sexual

Speaker:

education, 60 hours sex therapy specific training, and 300 hours

Speaker:

of supervised clinical experience and 50 hours of

Speaker:

direct supervision by another AASECT certified supervisor, and

Speaker:

also advanced clinical degree with psychotherapy training as

Speaker:

well. Now check out this link right here, or you can go

Speaker:

directly to their website at www.AASECT.org, or the link that

Speaker:

I have on here, check it out. Just you can find a certified

Speaker:

therapist that are qualified to treat your performance anxiety

Speaker:

with CBT. All right?

Speaker:

So I hope that help, and I can't stress to you how important it

Speaker:

is to also treat the psychological component of ED

Speaker:

and the physical part, because they are intertwined, and they

Speaker:

probably 99% of time coexist. And I see this a lot, where my

Speaker:

patients get better physically, but they're still unable to

Speaker:

perform because they're still need to go get rid of the

Speaker:

performance anxiety, which they have lifted for years, and going

Speaker:

through doing CBT, is about to do that. And I know as men, you

Speaker:

know my husband's same way. They're like, going to see a

Speaker:

therapist. It's nothing wrong with going to see a therapist.

Speaker:

It doesn't mean that you're weak. It doesn't mean that

Speaker:

you're any different. It just means you need help all of these

Speaker:

therapists are no different than going to see physical therapy to

Speaker:

do therapy on your back. And so there is no difference, now

Speaker:

you're going to have chance to do it on Zoom and on virtual, or

Speaker:

do you not have to come in for an office evaluation. And some

Speaker:

insurance will cover for this as well. You have to kind of find

Speaker:

out, and you can go on their website, type in your location,

Speaker:

and you can find out therapists that are certified, that are

Speaker:

feel you or work with a therapist that you feel that you

Speaker:

like to work with, because now it's all virtual. So I just want

Speaker:

to be a resource for you and give you a resource for

Speaker:

performance anxiety, because it's very, very common, and I

Speaker:

don't want you to miss out. Okay?

Speaker:

So I hope you find this useful. Let me know if you have any

Speaker:

questions, and it will mean the world to me if you get notified

Speaker:

and subscribe and share this with somebody that you care

Speaker:

about. A lot of our viewers are non-subscribers, so I hope you

Speaker:

guys will subscribe to our channel. It will mean the world

Speaker:

to me and don't forget, do not suffer with ED in silence. You

Speaker:

do not have to suffer alone. We have a resource for you that's

Speaker:

called the Modern Man Club. It's a space where I will coach you

Speaker:

and together with community of men that has ED, where we work

Speaker:

together and getting you out of ED breakthrough to sexual

Speaker:

confidence and sexual clarity and performance anxiety as well.

Speaker:

And so check it out at noedman.com at the link right

Speaker:

here. So I'll see you in the next episode.

Speaker:

Okay, Modern Man, you are not alone and you don't have to

Speaker:

suffer anymore. ED can feel isolating, frustrating, and even

Speaker:

defeating. The endless guessing, the quiet shame, the weight of

Speaker:

not feeling like yourself is exhausting. But here's the

Speaker:

truth, you are not broken. You are not alone. You don't have to

Speaker:

figure this out alone anymore. The Get Wood Now Boost Program

Speaker:

is your step by step, path to sexual confidence and

Speaker:

restoration. No more suffering in silence, no more trial and

Speaker:

error, just real solution, real result and the confidence you

Speaker:

deserve. It's time to take back your power on your term. Let's

Speaker:

get this journey started together. Check out the course

Speaker:

at getwoodnow.com. I'll see you there.

Speaker:

Thanks for listening to the Sexual Health for Men Podcast.

Speaker:

If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your

Speaker:

phone and post it on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever you post,

Speaker:

and be sure to tag me and let me know why you like this episode

Speaker:

and what you like to hear in the future. That will help me know

Speaker:

what's great for you and I would love to give you the most

Speaker:

incredible free gift designed to help you improve performance

Speaker:

quickly. Go to my website at sexualhealthformenpodcast.com to

Speaker:

get the book, The Five Common Costly Mistakes Men Make When

Speaker:

Facing ED. I would appreciate if you subscribe, leave a review on

Speaker:

Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. And just know that you

Speaker:

can have sexual vitality for life. I appreciate you until

Speaker:

next time.

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube