Trauma, especially sexual trauma, can lead to a significant aversion to sex, sometimes causing someone to identify as asexual, but asexuality is a genuine sexual orientation (lack of attraction) that isn't inherently caused by trauma; often, people experience trauma and are asexual, or trauma causes a sexual aversion (like Sexual Aversion Disorder) that feels similar but isn't the same as being asexual. Labels like caedosexual (ace spectrum due to trauma) exist, but the key is self-identification, recognizing whether it's a lack of attraction (asexuality) or a strong aversion/repulsion (trauma-related).
Just as we see with heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, there isn't a single cause for a person to identify as asexual. It is not the result of trauma, illness, or lack of opportunity for romantic engagement. There is no definitive scientific answer to why some individuals are asexual.
Caedsexual or caedosexual is a microlabel on the asexual spectrum which describes an individual who may once have been allosexual at one point in their lives, but now identify on the asexual spectrum due to their past trauma. This label should only be used by those who are survivors of these past experiences.
Not All Asexual People Are 'Born This Way' Two truths can exist at once: 1) The idea that asexuality is impermanent/health related is often used to harm asexual people. 2) Asexuality can be acquired/temporary for some people. It can also be linked to a health for some people.
While often misunderstood, hypersexual behavior can be a valid trauma response, especially after sexual abuse or neglect. Individuals may use sex to cope with deep psychological pain, which can result in emotional distress, relationship struggles, and feelings of shame.
Signs of childhood trauma
When we sexualize our feelings (or eat over them), we use dissociative and/or arousing fantasies to self-soothe and distract the mind. Sexualization of feelings is a psychological coping mechanism. Typically, sexualization as a coping skill is learned in childhood and linked to early-life attachment trauma.
Someone who is not already asexual cannot suddenly become asexual or take steps to become asexual. Asexuality is not something that someone can choose to be. It is a pre-existing physical response to somebody that does not stem from trauma, medication, physical experience, etc.
Fraysexual means experiencing strong sexual attraction to strangers or people you don't know well, with that attraction fading as emotional intimacy or familiarity grows; it's essentially the opposite of demisexuality, where connection comes before attraction, and it's considered part of the asexual spectrum, sometimes called ignotasexuality. Fraysexual individuals often prefer emotionless or low-emotion sexual encounters and find their desire decreases with emotional closeness, though they can still form romantic bonds.
To know if you're asexual, reflect on whether you experience little to no sexual attraction to others, which is the core definition, but also consider if you prefer emotional connections, find romance without sex appealing, don't have typical crushes, or feel detached from sexual media, understanding it's a spectrum where experiences vary and you might still enjoy physical intimacy for other reasons like connection or pleasure. It's about a lack of sexual attraction, not necessarily a lack of sexual activity or desire, and it's a personal identity that can be explored.
Trauma Signs and Symptoms
While all traumas leave a profound mark on an individual's life, there's a different level of difficulty in recovering from what's called "complex trauma." Unlike single-incident traumas, complex trauma stems from repeated experiences of stressful and traumatic events, usually in environments where there's no escape.
Sexual repression is not the same as being asexual. Asexuality is defined as having a lack of sexual attraction to others or experiencing low or no interest in or desire for sexual activity. You can have a sexual drive and be sexually attracted (and even aroused) by others and still be sexually repressed.
INFJs are more likely to identify as asexual. One Chapman sophomore identifies with that. She asked for anonymity, but she is an animation and visual effects major. INFJ personality type identifies as sexually repulsed.
This typically occurs in instances when finding a mate becomes difficult. For example, female zebra sharks will reproduce asexually if they are unable to find a mate in their ocean habitats. Parthenogenesis was previously believed to rarely occur in vertebrates, and only be possible in very small animals.
But it does provide some rough guidelines as to how soon may be too soon to make long-term commitments and how long may be too long to stick with a relationship. Each of the three numbers—three, six, and nine—stands for the month that a different common stage of a relationship tends to end.
Lithsexual / Lithosexual
(Adj.) Describes a sexual orientation in which an individual feels romantic attraction to others but may not have a need for their affection to be reciprocated or may not have a need to engage in a relationship with that person.
Hypersexuality Warning Signs
You can have no experience with sexual trauma, and be 100% ace. You can also have experience with sexual trauma, and not be ace. It can be both, and, neither, and or all at once, and sometimes it's hard to figure it out due to how close the symptoms of trauma are to the traits of asexuality.
Some who identify as asexual report that they experience sexual attraction, though lack the inclination to act on it, citing no desire to engage in sexual activity—some asexuals also lack the desire to engage in non-sexual physical activity such as cuddling or hand-holding, while others choose to do so.
Anthony Bogaert suggests that “women will be more likely than men to be asexual because they are, on average, less likely to have had conditioning experiences relevant to sexual orientation development” (Bogaert 2004).
The #1 worst habit for anxiety isn't singular, but avoidance (procrastination), poor sleep, and negative thought patterns (like catastrophizing) are top contenders, creating vicious cycles where anxiety fuels these behaviors, and the behaviors, in turn, worsen anxiety by preventing healthy coping and creating more stress. Other significant habits include excessive caffeine, poor diet, too much screen time, and social withdrawal, all disrupting the body's ability to manage stress effectively.
Research suggests that women reach their sexual peak in their 30s whereas men peak in their late teens.