mental health, kink, both?

If you take a moment to look around, you'll find so many avenues to AB/DL. For many AB/DL is an expansion of their sexual repertoire, a physical/emotional enhancement to intimate play (with or without a partner). For others AB/DL is primarily for mental health benefit in the form of anxiety control, coping skills, security, peacefulness, nostalgia, and awareness of the inner-child. This acknowledges that AB/DLs to some degree have a literal part of them (or their personality) that is "little." Finally, there are many (maybe the majority) who pursue AB/DL interests for a combination of both sexual enhancement and mental health benefit. 

These avenues toward AB/DL play are no less valuable than any other but need distinguishing and validating. 

I personally align more with the final avenue, a combination of physical enhancement but also acknowledgment of my "inner little" and my true personality. Quite honestly, the mental health benefits and engagement of my little side makes up the majority of my interest on the spectrum.

My wife and I had a conversation recently (we are still pursuing a mutual understanding of AB/DL) where she still continued to misinterpret AB/DL as only a "fetish" or "kink." I felt frustrated by this because it's easy to explain AB/DL as a kink but not so much as a form of stress relief, not to mention engagement of a piece of my personality that needs to "come out to play" occasionally, to make me who I am. This will of course be an ongoing conversation, but to those reading...remember that whatever avenue you take to AB/DL, as long as it is safe and consensual (with a partner or public experience), your experience is valid. You can't let others dictate some moral obligation to one or the other. Just as you can't expect someone to change their sexual repertoire, you can't really expect someone else to change their personality, it becomes a bit ridiculous honestly.

You're okay, you're experiences are valid, no matter what you like, we are in it together.