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Ace(ing) ED
Published in Phillip Joy, Megan Aston, Queering Nutrition and Dietetics, 2023
The comic is a six-panel digital comic about the author's experience as a queer, non-binary, white, able-bodied, mental health clinician living at the intersections of the asexuality spectrum and a history of an eating disorder (ED). From the top of the page is the title Ace(ing) ED in bubble letters. The comic shows how their experience with asexuality, dating, body image, and eating are all intertwined. The thought bubbles in the comic represent the ongoing flashbacks the author has from their history of ED. These flashbacks are harsh reminders of the effect the ED had on the author's body and mind (Figure 35.1).
Leveraging Integrated Health Services to Promote Behavioral Health Among Women with Disabilities
Published in Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett, Lesia M. Ruglass, Women’s Mental Health Across the Lifespan, 2017
Colleen Clemency Cordes, Rebecca P. Cameron, Ethan Eisen, Alette Coble-Temple, Linda R. Mona
To the extent that IBH providers are willing to consider sexual satisfaction to be an appropriate target of intervention, and to ally themselves with WWD around this, they can actively counter assumptions of asexuality, and the tendency to deny WWD full adult agency in their lives. Resources that cover comprehensive assessment and intervention around sexual concerns among WWD include Clemency Cordes et al. (2013), Mona et al., (2009), and Mona (2003), among others. Integrated care settings are ideal for addressing the interplay of biopsychosocial factors that affect sexual expression as such; IBH providers need to be familiar with these comprehensive sexual healthcare approaches in order to educate WWD about their treatment options and to instill hope.
Rapid Assessment of Existing HIV Prevention Programming in a Community Mental Health Center
Published in Michael B. Blank, Marlene M. Eisenberg, HIV: Issues with Mental Health and Illness, 2014
Phyllis L. Solomon, Julie A. Tennille, David Lipsitt, Ellen Plumb, David Metzger, Michael B. Blank
The limited research that has been conducted on whether HIV prevention services are offered to this population by the public mental health system has generally found that it is rather rare, as “providers do not actively address HIV/STI issues in persons with SMI” (Brunette et al., 2000, p. 348). Sullivan and her colleagues (1999) noted that some providers are reluctant to address HIV risks among their consumers due to perceived concerns regarding confidentiality. The public mental health system’s lack of knowledge regarding their consumers’ risk of HIV infections relieves this overburdened and under-funded service system of the responsibility of addressing what could be an extremely costly problem (Sullivan et al., 1999). Other barriers to addressing HIV prevention with this high risk population include outdated attitudes about the asexuality of the population, lack of knowledge and skills related to HIV issues and behavioral HIV risk reduction interventions, fears and anxiety about addressing the topic, discomfort in dealing with issues about consumer sexuality, lack of designated funding for such services, and a lower priority level than other pressing consumer safety and survival needs (Aruffo, Thompson, & McDaniel, 1996; Brunette et al., 2000; Carmen & Brady, 1990; Grassi, 1996; Knox, 1989; Sullivan et al., 1999; McKinnon, Cournos, Herman et al., 1999; Shernoff, 1988). Yet another barrier that evolved from a focus group study was that case managers were concerned that discussing sexual risk behaviors in a consumer’s home or private place would be misinterpreted by the consumer (Encandela et al., 2003).
Examining Visual Attention Patterns among Asexual and Heterosexual Individuals
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2023
Sonia Milani, Jia Yu Zhang, Bozena Zdaniuk, Anthony Bogaert, Gerulf Rieger, Lori A. Brotto
Asexuality is generally defined as a sexual orientation characterized by a lack of sexual attraction (Bogaert, 2015; Brotto & Yule, 2017). Research suggests that asexuals may account for 0.4–1% of the total population (Aicken et al., 2013; Bogaert, 2004). Among self-identified asexuals, there is significant heterogeneity in how individuals define their asexuality (Carrigan, 2011; Scherrer, 2008). The Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN), an online community seeking to create acceptance and discussion of asexuality, describes the asexual community as one with considerable diversity of sexual needs and experiences. Within the asexual community, terms such as demisexual, gray-A, and A-fluid are also used to describe differing degrees of experience of sexual attraction (Carrigan, 2011). Experience of romantic attraction also varies throughout the asexual community. In a qualitative study by Scherrer (2008), several participants shared that they were romantically, but not sexually, attracted to others, allowing for the designation of romantic versus aromantic asexuality. Among romantic asexuals, diverse romantic attractions, including heteroromantic, homoromantic, and bi- and pan-romantic, are reported (Antonsen et al., 2020; Brotto et al., 2010; Scherrer, 2008; Zheng & Su, 2018). Thus, while asexuality is defined as a lack of sexual attraction, some asexual individuals may experience some levels of sexual attraction and/or romantic attraction toward others. This positions asexuality as a sexual orientation that occurs on a spectrum, with different subtypes on the nature of the attraction and context.
Stability and Change in Asexuality: Relationship Between Sexual/Romantic Attraction and Sexual Desire
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2023
Asexuality is broadly defined as a quality whereby people experience little or no sexual attraction (Bogaert, 2004, 2006; Brotto et al., 2015; Hinderliter, 2009). An empirical study revealed that asexual people reported significantly lower sexual attraction than heterosexual people (d = 2.2, Zheng & Su, 2018). Similarly, asexual individuals have reported fewer sexual partners and less frequent sexual activity than heterosexual individuals (Bogaert, 2004; Zheng & Su, 2018). However, the majority of asexual individuals also experience romantic attraction or affection (Antonsen et al., 2020; Bogaert, 2006, 2015; Zheng & Su, 2018). There are four main categories of romantic orientations: heteroromantic, homoromantic, aromantic, and biromantic (Brotto et al., 2010). In addition, several studies have reported that asexual individuals have significantly lower dyadic sexual desire (DSD) than heterosexual participants, and similar or slightly lower levels of solitary sexual desire (SSD) than sexual participants (Brotto & Yule, 2011; Prause & Graham, 2007; Zheng & Su, 2018).
Patterns of Genital and Subjective Sexual Arousal in Cisgender Asexual Men
Published in The Journal of Sex Research, 2023
Malvina N. Skorska, Morag A. Yule, Anthony F. Bogaert, Lori A. Brotto
The extent to which asexuality might be explained as a disorder of low sexual desire has also been explored. Although this area of research is scant, there is some evidence that asexuality differs from disorders of sexual desire given significant differences between asexual individuals and those who met diagnostic criteria for a desire disorder (Brotto et al., 2015). Specifically, asexual individuals were less likely to be in a relationship and reported lower levels of sex-related distress, lower sexual desire, and higher levels of alexithymia (inability to express or identify emotions) than sexual participants who met diagnostic criteria for a disorder of sexual desire. Because all sexual dysfunctions require the criterion of clinically significant personal distress (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and because asexual individuals tend not to report their lack of sexual interest to be problematic for themselves (Gupta, 2017; Prause & Graham, 2007), as opposed to societal stigma (Gupta, 2017; MacInnis & Hodson, 2012), this further strengthens the argument that asexuality is unlikely to be best described as a sexual desire disorder (Brotto et al., 2015).