# The postage stamp test for impotency **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724 "2017-02-01T03:17:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724/41 "2017-02-02T20:04:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Flat rate. > > One night I had six erections during REM sleep. That meant six “awakenings” so the tech could look under my gown and use a tool to measure how “hard” I was. In one case a picture was taken (for scholarly purposes I was told). What the actual fuck? Tell me this sleep lab was done in a proper scholarly setting and not in Dirty Mike’s Downstairs College. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724/42 "2017-02-02T21:46:51Z")
> [@Bumbazine](#): > > A serious answer: :eek: > It is entirely possible for a man to have erections in his sleep and still be unable to achieve or maintain an erection while awake. I do not know why this is. THAT’S THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE TEST. This means that the erectile dysfunction is not from physical causes, but psychological. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724/43 "2017-02-03T12:01:27Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > What the actual fuck? > > Tell me this sleep lab was done in a proper scholarly setting and not in Dirty Mike’s Downstairs College. University of Pittsburgh. Years later I found the journal article. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724/44 "2017-02-03T16:27:01Z")
Okay, after reading this I just had to try the stamp test. CAUTION: Do NOT use airmail stamps! I woke up with the stamps not only broken but cancelled. I pieced together the torn stamps and could read “Deauville”. Turns out it’s a [French seaside town](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deauville). All the next day, I was squirming in an office meeting, feeling not only the residual glue, but perfume and croissant crumbs. Which wasn’t as embarrassing as when my little guy started humming La Marseillaise. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724/45 "2017-02-03T16:35:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > University of Pittsburgh. > Years later I found the journal article. Did the publish the photo? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724/46 "2017-02-03T20:25:50Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Did the publish the photo? A photo, but not one of me. The picture was to show the technique they used to confirm that an erection had occurred. They used an instrument that allowed them to measure pounds (kilos?) of pressure being applied and the erection not folding. (The only embarrassing part was when my EEG paste was being picked/combed out the following morning by a tech. She said that she was sorry she had to wake me up so often the night before. I had minimal memory of the events, but realizing I was chatting with the night tech made me blush.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-postage-stamp-test-for-impotency/778724.md?page=2)