Roundup - May Carnival of Aros

Written by the AUREA book project team

Word count: 267 words
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes (not counting each submission)

---

The AUREA book project team hosted Carnival of Aros for May on the subject of Mental Health to get perspectives on mental health and aromanticism.

Here are the submissions:

Rachel is the lead author for the mental health section of the AUREA book project. My post on “Discovering a New Identity as I Become Middle Aged” reflected on her experience with mental illness and how it affected her decision to be non-partnering. 

Jae’s submission reflects on how discovering that they were arospec made them happy and more comfortable with their identity. 

Entity9silvergen reflected on the effect of amatonormativity on their mental health and what it is like to speak to a therapist about aromanticism. Becoming friends with other aromantic people online was a valuable experience. The post includes tips for finding a supportive community. 

Roboticanary reflected on being a victim of bullying, finding a supportive community, how mental health affects him, and provides advice on advocating for mental health.

Daniel Cruz submitted a joint for Carnival of Aros and the Gender Exploration Carnival. The submission reflects on how their orientations are separate from their mental health. They provide suggestions on speaking with a therapist about mental health and orientations. 

Sildarmillion reflects on how difficult it is to understand romantic orientation and romantic attraction. 

Oxygen8 reflects on what it is like to have autism and alexithymia and be aromantic. Although they have experience speaking with people who don’t understand aromanticism, they have come to realize that you don’t have to feel attraction to be mentally healthy.

Mia reflects on being autistic and aromantic. She provides insight into what should be considered a mental illness. 

Cross-posted on Exploring the Aspec tumblr page.