Mental Margins: Sex Education & Understanding Predators
Release Date: 06/26/2025
Starting the Conversation Around Sexual Anorexia
Mental Health Rewritten
Kyle sits awake at 2 AM, the glow of his laptop revealing a single word in the search bar: “avoidance.” He scrolls past harsh phrases like fear of intimacy and sexual withdrawal that feel like accusations. Then one term stops him—“sexual anorexia.” For the first time, he wonders: What if I’m not broken, but scared? And what if scared has a name? This episode of Mental Health Rewritten explores the little-discussed realm of sexual anorexia, a term for fear-driven intimacy avoidance often rooted in trauma. Though not officially listed in the DSM-5, sexual anorexia is a...
info_outline
Mental Margins: Internal Barriers & OnlyFans Reveal
Mental Health Rewritten
In this special reflection episode of Mental Health Rewritten, host Dominic Lawson celebrates 40 days of the podcast's journey with over 1,000 subscribers and nearly 13,000 downloads. Dominic shares heartfelt gratitude for listeners' impactful messages, highlighting how powerful storytelling can transform conversations about mental health. Listeners discover the deliberate use of the gentle chime within episodes—a signal indicating insights grounded in respected clinical texts, DSM-5 and ICD-11, ensuring a balance of accuracy, clarity, and empathy. Bonus Content Highlights: Dr. Justin Dodson...
info_outline
Mental Margins: Sex Education & Understanding Predators
Mental Health Rewritten
In this segment from episode 103, Rewriting The Conversation Around Sexual Assault, psychotherapist Havi Kang explores how societal perceptions around trauma, sexual assault, and mental health are evolving, highlighting the influence of movements like #MeToo and increased online dialogue. Dr. Justin Dodson joins the conversation to discuss the significant impacts when education about sexual health and trauma is suppressed, illustrating consequences from personal and professional perspectives.
info_outline
Mental Margins: Trauma
Mental Health Rewritten
In this segment, host Dominic Lawson pauses the narrative to ground the discussion in clinical reality. With the term "trauma" now widely used in cultural and digital discourse, this segment brings clarity to its true clinical definitions, as outlined in the DSM-5 and ICD-11. The conversation reframes trauma not just as catastrophic events but also as chronic, cumulative experiences—what clinicians call "small t trauma. Why It Matters: This segment reinforces our mission to rewrite mental health narratives by ensuring that language, especially around trauma, is used responsibly and...
info_outline
Mental Margins: Men, Shame, and Assault
Mental Health Rewritten
In this segment of Episode 103, "Rewriting the Conversation Around Sexual Assault," Mental Health Rewritten explores the often-overlooked experiences of men who have survived sexual violence. With poignant insight from Havi Kang and Dan Woerheide, the episode challenges pervasive myths that silence male survivors and hinder healing.
info_outline
Mental Margins: Complex PTSD
Mental Health Rewritten
In this segment, hosts Dominic Lawson and Dan Woerheide explore the enduring psychological toll of sexual assault, turning their focus to Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). Dan reflects on the harrowing process of forensic exams for survivors—a clinical necessity that often reactivates trauma. Despite the compassion of SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) professionals, the experience underscores how systemic procedures can inadvertently retraumatize those they've been designed to help. Dominic introduces listeners to the concept of Complex PTSD, a diagnosis that goes beyond the acute symptoms of...
info_outline
Rewriting the Conversation Around Sexual Assault
Mental Health Rewritten
In this powerful and necessary episode of Mental Health Rewritten, we open with a deceptively simple question: “Is this sexual assault?” From that moment forward, we begin a journey that challenges long-held beliefs about consent, trauma, and silence, especially when the abuse doesn’t look the way we expect it to. At the heart of this episode is Maria, a fictional composite of real stories. We explore the types of harm that don’t come through force, but through the absence of consent, emotional pressure, or the quiet rewriting of boundaries inside long-term relationships. But Maria’s...
info_outline
Mental Margins: Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder
Mental Health Rewritten
In this excerpt from Episode 101: Rewriting the Conversation Around Sex Addiction, Havi Kang joins host Dominic Lawson to explore the evolving understanding of compulsive sexual behavior. The episode introduces CSBD (Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder) as recognized by the ICD-11, highlighting its absence from the DSM-5 and what that reveals about ongoing clinical hesitation. Havi breaks down the shift from the “classic sex addict” to today’s screen-based, often younger “contemporary sex addict,” shaped by easy access to sexual content and changing cultural norms. The episode...
info_outline
Mental Margins: A Brief History of Pornography
Mental Health Rewritten
In this bonus episode of Mental Health Rewritten, host Dominic Lawson takes listeners on a captivating journey through the history of pornography, exploring how desire has been depicted, suppressed, and preserved across centuries. From ancient Egyptian satire to the digital age’s pornographic explosion we uncover the cultural, technological, and political forces that shaped the evolution of explicit imagery. Source List Diver, K. (2005, April 4). Archaeologist finds 'oldest porn statue'. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/apr/04/arts.germany – News...
info_outline
Mental Margins: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Mental Health Rewritten
In this introspective and educational Mental Margin segment, we explore how trauma isn't always loud. Sometimes it whispers through our adult decisions, shaped quietly and powerfully by Adverse Childhood Experiences—ACEs. With the expertise of Dr. Justin Dodson, we trace how witnessing violence, enduring emotional wounds, and growing up without safety all carve paths into who we become. 🧠 Key Themes The Foundation Matters: Dr. Dodson reminds us that healing starts with understanding our beginnings. Our behaviors today—whether defensive, compulsive, or withdrawn—are reactions to...
info_outlineIn this segment from episode 103, Rewriting The Conversation Around Sexual Assault, psychotherapist Havi Kang explores how societal perceptions around trauma, sexual assault, and mental health are evolving, highlighting the influence of movements like #MeToo and increased online dialogue.
Dr. Justin Dodson joins the conversation to discuss the significant impacts when education about sexual health and trauma is suppressed, illustrating consequences from personal and professional perspectives.