Anorgasmia is the inability to have a climax and affects men as well as women. Another term for male anorgasmia is delayed or retarded ejaculation, which means that even after extended stimulation, the man cannot come. Estimates suggest one man in ten has this problem at some time in his life, but that only one in a hundred sees it as bad enough to need therapy.

The causes are many and complex. Clear cut reasons would include an injury or operation that blocks the nerves which are responsible for ejaculation. Less obvious is the way men are brought up, and the beliefs they have about sex. Men who, under stress 'hold back' their climax, may be more rigisd and self-disciplined in their views about sex. They may also have ideas about sex being dirty or contaminating their partner. These ideas may be conscious or unconscious, and it is possible that orgasm difficulties can occur in one situation, or with one partner, but not another.