Stresexual is a sexual modifier under the asexual spectrum where someone's sexual attraction is affected or limited by mental health or trauma. One may feel as though their trauma, trauma recovery, mental disorders, mental disabilities, or other conditions that affects ones health limits their ability to experience attraction. This is similar to caedsexual, however it is not limited to trauma survivors and individuals with PTSD, and is instead open to anyone who feels as though their mental health affects and limits their attraction.
How one may feel as though the way their attraction was limited varies. They may feel as though they are no longer able to be attracted to a specific gender, sex, gender modality, a specific type of individual, an individual with a specific religion or culture, an individual with a specific feature or personality trait, etc.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
- An individual who loses sexual attraction to someone after finding out they are Christian, due to religious trauma.
- An individual who loses sexual attraction to someone upon finding out they have a certain set of genitals, due to sexual trauma.
- An individual who loses attraction to someone with a personality trait that can be considered 'messy,' due to neurodivergence.
- An individual who has lost all attraction to women, due to being abused by a woman in the past.
- An individual who has lost attraction to cisn't individuals, due to a past partner being cisn't and harming themselves because of social stigma and/or discrimination around their partner's gender and/or relationship.
There are many other examples or reasons one may fall under this identity. This term may also be used as a modifier for other forms of attraction, such as stresromantic, stresplatonic, stresalterous, etc.
History
The term was coined by Wikia FANDOM user Double-bi on April 11, 2021, as a response to an LGBTA Wikia post suggesting alternative terms for "cissexual."[1]
Flag
The stresexual flag was made by FANDOM user JunesNRoses on April 25, 2021. The purples are for stress and anxiety and the colors fade to gray to symbolize loss of attraction.[2]