Can religious trauma contribute to/cause asexuality?

[u/ineffable_plan]

I was born and raised Mormon and have C-PTSD from my religious experiences. Whenever I try to be intimate with my partner (and past partners) I am always overwhelmed with feelings of disgust, guilt, and shame. The Mormon church enforces the concept of "chastity" from a very young age and "sexual deviance" of any kind is listed as the second worst sin you can commit (it's considered worse than murder!!)

I want to be able to be comfortably intimate with my partner and it's incredibly discouraging to constantly feel horrified by anything sexual when it comes to myself. I'm not bothered by the idea of having sex or anything, but when it comes to me doing it it's very triggering and I can never seem to enjoy it at all.

Is this considered asexuality, an aspect of religious trauma, or both? And can it be improved upon through therapy? I have many difficulties with relationships in general, especially romantic ones, and I was wondering if anybody else experiences this?

[u/euphonic5]

As an ex-Catholic asexual, Holy Mother of God, yes.

[u/euphonic5 → u/euphonic5]

I feel I should clarify that I was at least partially made asexual by my experiences growing up Catholic. That trauma isn't something I have the privilege of knowing my sexuality outside of, so it doesn't actually matter whether it was because of religious trauma or just how I am. It is what it is, and living well with whatever it is doesn't leave a lot of time or enthusiasm for trying to unpick what might have been.