Chapters authored
A “Snip” in Time: Circumcision Revisited
The publication of an Italian study on etiology and interactions of frenulum breve, frenulectomy, and premature ejaculation, and the results of a popular Austrian sex study initiated a survey on this topic, accompanied by collecting a small sample of data in an urban practice environment in Germany. Since frenulectomy, for practical reasons, often leads to a complete removal of the prepuce, circumcision has come to the fore anew. Moreover, under the heading, “Ending a myth: male circumcision is not associated with higher prevalence of erectile dysfunction,” a recent study relating circumcision to sexual dysfunction has been published. In this chapter, an overview of research results as well as of psychological and clinical aspects of circumcision and associated subjects is given. There seem to be advantages of circumcision as to sexual dysfunction and premature ejaculation. Depending on etiopathology, some treatment options may require psychosomatic reasoning.
Part of the book: Sexual Dysfunction
Challenges for Behavioral Neuroscience: Prenatal, Postnatal, and Social Factors
Behavioral medicine has neglected social aspects for a long time. In the pre- and postnatal context, these are especially important, as parental competencies in the relational objects of the infant may be compromised by both inner and outer factors, thus potentially compromising the infant’s psychic development. The findings on pre- and postnatal stages of human development have shown that early psychosocial interventions can help out to some extent. Approaches for parents, which have mainly evolved from the findings of psychoanalysis and mother-infant research, must be augmented by a social perspective, just like postnatal concepts have been augmented by prenatal intervention approaches. The latter reach from how parents-to-be can be prepared for parenthood to how to support attachment and relation in infants, toddlers, and older children. Scientific behavioral reasoning, augmented by subjectivity- and objectivity-related concepts, provides a framework to work with, so that potential deprivation can be faced seriously. Intervention approaches focusing on bonding, on relational issues, and on educational practices are introduced, covering the most important time spans of psychic development from the mother-unborn period to the mother-infant period.
Part of the book: Behavioral Neuroscience