One of the most helpful chapters of Coping with Premature Ejaculation (see the Resources page) is chapter 4, “Assessing Your PE”. In this chapter they give series of exercises where you evaluate the type and severity of your premature ejaculation. Based on your answers, they provide suggestions for treatment plans and advice on approaching a solution to the problem.
I went though the exercises last year when I first got the book. I found it incredibly helpful and encouraging to see a list of types of PE and an organized approach to each. Since I am having a relapse, I thought it would be helpful to review my results. Since I am not sure what the cause of the relapse is, I thought it would be a good idea to do the self assessment again. I wanted to make sure that I hadn’t missed something. I wanted to make sure that i was addressing the root problem.
I thought I had written about this, but I can’t find the post, so I’ll summarize the assessment again. The authors identify nine types of PE:
- Neurologic system PE
- Psychological system PE
- Psycho-sexual skills deficit PE
- Physical illness PE
- Physical injury PE
- Drug side-effect PE
- Psychological distress PE
- Relationship distress PE
- PE with another sexual dysfunction (mixed PE)
I cannot possibly properly describe each of these types in this post. If you would like more information, please get a copy of the book. The authors divide these nine into two groups: those that are lifelong and those that are acquired. The first three in the list above are in the first group, and the remaining are in the latter. The assessment of the type of PE consists of answering several Yes / No questions and tallying the number of answers.
The next exercise in the book is designed to evaluate the severity of you PE. You answer ten questions where you rate the question on a scale from 0 to 10, then you add the results. They call this sum the PE Severity Index (PESI). The higher the PESI, the more severe your case of PE.
When I took the test last year, got a positive result from the first three types: neurologic system, psychological system, and psycho-sexual skills deficit. None of the rest applied because they are all acquired, and I have had PE my entire life. As I read more about the psychological system PE, I found that it didn’t fully apply in my case. So I was left with neurologic system and psycho-sexual skills deficit.
Last year when I completed the severity exercise, I had my wife complete it also. She came up with a PESI of 64, and I came up with a 74. Both of these scores put me in the “High severity” category. (We answered most of the questions with almost the same answer. Most of the difference was in one question: “If you can have intercourse, how long is it before you typically ejaculate?” I answered “15 seconds”, which is how long it would take if I took any reasonable thrusts. She answered “4 minutes”, which is how long I could last if i was barely moving.)
So that is where I left it last year. With the relapse, I decided to take the PE type evaluation again. When I took it this time, i got the same result: neurologic system and psycho-sexual skills deficit.
That result confirmed my plan of action. The good news is that I don’t have to start a new treatment plan. The bad news is that I need to work harder on my current treatment plan.
Off to review the treatment chapters in the book.
Be Free Indeed 