19 year old rape victim with erectile dysfunction

[steckbewg]

Im 19 years old and me and my fiance have been trying to have sex for about 6 months now, and I can never get hard. We both think it is a result of the trauma of being raped during my freshman year of highschool. She is taking it hard personally, because she thinks that she should still be able to get me hard. I've looked into the long term effects of rape on the sex life of men, and I saw that it can lead to homosexuality down the road, but I'm not attracted to men. Im attracted to her and only her. Does anyone have any advice for me in my situation? My doctors wrote it off as anxiety, and refused to give me any medication to get hard. Thanks!

[TMinDC]

I'm sorry to hear that you had this experience, which must have been traumatizing for you. Have you ever had a chance to talk about it with a therapist or counselor?  Being sexually assaulted can affect you in scarring ways, and it's important that you work through them under the guidance of a professional.  Also, just so you know, whether or not, sexual assault never "leads" to homosexuality.  That is, you don't become gay because you were assaulted.  Sometimes people are gay and don't realize it or deny it, but it has nothing to do with the assault itself.  In any case, this is not something you should worry about - if you're gay, you're gay, and if you're straight, you're straight, but the assault itself doesn't make a difference either way.  My best suggestion would be to talk to a mental health professional, particularly someone who knows how to work through sexual assaults.