Asexual-Identified Adults: Interactions with Health-Care Practitioners

Historically, people with minority sexual and gender identities (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) have been pathologized by mental and medical health practitioners. The potential for pathologization of asexuality is particularly salient considering a lack of sexual desire or interest has been studied in relationship to depression, antidepressant medication, and hypothyroidism. To explore this potential pathologization, asexual individuals were asked about their interactions with mental health and medical practitioners. The study included 136 adult participants, primarily from the U.S., who self-identified as asexual. Participants completed an online survey which contained questions about their experiences with mental health and medical practitioners. Results indicated that the majority of participants did not disclose their identity and felt uncomfortable discussing issues related to sexuality with their providers. Participants were more likely to disclose their asexual identity to mental health providers, as compared to medical providers. Participants who had positive experiences were more likely than those who had negative experiences to indicate that their practitioners were familiar with asexuality, accepted the participant's identity completely, and reacted to the disclosure in a positive and affirming manner. Positive experiences included practitioners educating themselves about asexuality, while negative experiences included practitioners disbelieving the existence of asexuality, and between one quarter and one half of participants reported that practitioners attributed their asexuality to a health condition. The findings from this study demonstrate the importance of including information about asexual identities in health education and ongoing diversity training in order to increase the cultural sensitivity of health practitioners.