Caedsexual

Caedsexual, also spelled caedosexual or caedrosexual, refers to a sexual orientation or self-description on the asexual spectrum. People may describe themselves as caedsexual if they used to experience sexual attraction, or would previously have understood themselves as allosexual, but after traumatic experiences no longer experience sexual attraction or experience very little of it.

The term does not describe a general or automatic consequence of trauma. Not all traumatized people lose sexual attraction, and not every change in sexual attraction is related to trauma. Caedsexuality is primarily a way of making sense of one’s own experience when a person feels that the connection between trauma and changed sexual attraction fits them.

Respectful use is important: the term should not be applied to others as an outside label or diagnosis. If traumatic experiences are distressing or strongly affect sexuality, closeness, relationships, or everyday life, trauma-informed therapeutic support may be helpful; the orientation or self-description itself, however, is not pathological.