Anxiety is everywhere, floating freely through the air, passing from person to person like a virus on the wings of a sneeze. While some of us feel nervous about our jobs, our health, or our families, others feel a very personal dread about our own bodies. Preoccupied by physical appearances, we can become distracted from what matters most in life, and turn instead to worrying about some highly specific body part. If, by chance, we zero in on the piece of ourselves most closely associated with intimacy — our genitals — we might shut down entirely.

This is not some fanciful idea, or is it theoretical hogwash. Evidence from one study of 367 military personnel, all men, and no one older than 40, found those who felt most satisfied in terms of male genital self-image had lower levels of sexual anxiety and better sexual functioning. And what about the self-doubting ones, those who disliked the appearance of their member? The researchers found the opposite to be true in some (though not all) cases. Dissatisfaction led to anxiety, which led to sexual difficulties — a vicious cycle.