You get an erection. Then you notice it. “Am I hard enough?” A few seconds later, you check again. “Is it going away?” Now your attention is no longer on your partner, pleasure or the moment. It is on your erection. You start trying to keep it. Anxiety increases, arousal drops, your erection becomes less firm, and the thought you feared happens: “I knew it. I can't stay hard.” This is the erection anxiety cycle, and it can turn an occasional erection problem into a recurring