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Psychologically, the situation is clear enough. Thanks to the lockdown, we found ourselves living 24 hours a day together, in an enclosed space, often working. This did go up nervousness and tension. As if that were not enough, social contacts have failed. Not only dinners and aperitifs have been given up. Finally, add the fears related to the information on the pandemic. All of this, and these are just examples, goes to create more anxiety and in many cases even depression.
What is certain is that, by adding all these factors, intimacy is less sought and a decrease in desire arises. For many couples, this is the path that has characterized the long months marked by the times of the pandemic. And they certainly had an impact on the couple’s life.
This is demonstrated among other things by the lack of the baby boom hypothesized nine months after the lockdown last spring, but indeed an 8% drop in new births. This was reported by the experts of the Italian Society of Andrology (SIA), who warn about the reflections of what we have lived and are experiencing on the psyche and sexuality of the male.
Lurking is the decline of desire
According to an online survey conducted by the Italian Society of Andrology on over 1,000 men, 60% reported a decrease in desire and decreased sexual activity during the lockdown. The reopening, however, are not sweeping away the inconveniences: the pandemic and isolation have left signs that persist even with the gradual return to normal, so much so that 24% of men continue to have difficulties under the sheets.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures implemented to contain it have imposed a drastic change in lifestyle habits, creating situations of psychological and sexual distress” – explains Alessandro Palmieri, president of SIA and Professor of Urology at Federico II University of Naples.
“With the gradual elimination of the restrictions, Italy will allow a gradual resumption of normal relational habits, but the Italian male will not overcome his problems when he returns to normality, in many cases after having contracted and defeated COVID-19. All available data suggest an increase in the incidence and duration over time of andrological problems which may already be evident in the summer months, when, however, it is possible that there is greater difficulty in accessing visits due to the restrictions on non-urgent activities of the past months, which have lengthened the waiting lists “.
Numerous data also suggest that the pandemic over time may take a higher price to pay for the sexual well-being of men who have been infected. Studies suggest that infection may lead to an increased risk of erectile dysfunction, with a direct action of the virus on the functionality of the corpora cavernosa of the penis through a decrease in the production of nitric oxide, the main mediator of erection.
A service for him
To lend a hand to those who feel in difficulty, ‘L’andrologia italiana answers’ returns for the second consecutive year, the telephone service for free information and advice that can be contacted every day from 10 to 19 throughout the month of June. .
The “SOS andrologist”, active on the toll-free number 800-995125, is dedicated not only to the 4 million Italians who already suffer from sexual disorders but also to all those who may have andrological disorders under the sheets as a result of COVID-19, that more and more data indicate as responsible for an increase in the prevalence of erectile dysfunction in those who have contracted the virus.
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