The findings, from a Cochrane Systematic Review, noted that depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and other psychosocial stresses can play a large role in erectile dysfunction. The review analyzed eleven recent studies into the influence that these psychological issues have on the male body's endocrine, vascular and neurological functions.

The studies involved nearly 400 men with erectile dysfunction who had been given psychotherapy, medication, psychotherapy plus medication or vacuum devices. A further 59 men were in non-treatment control groups.

"We found that 95 percent of men in the psychosocial therapy group benefited from the treatment, while there was no change in over the same period of time in the controls," said Professor Tamara Melnik, a psychiatrist working at the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil.

Melnik suggests that some large randomized trials with longer follow-up periods should now be conducted, in order to measure exactly how effective psychosocial therapy can be. "One problem with psychosocial therapy is that we are still uncertain which patients are most likely to benefit from it and if effectiveness depends upon personality factors [or] length of therapy time," concluded Melnik.