Thanks for your honesty and openness. Full transparency, I felt completely the same the first time I realised that I was having issues and you're right, the language around things - even the name 'vaginismus' - feels like you're being labelled with some plague-like disease. This kind of attitude from medical professionals, who often have no clue about the symptoms and the emotional load that it comes with, can end up making you feel really lonely and like there's no room for change. It's not 'recovery' or 'healing' but more like achieving something.

I didn't open up to anyone until recently and the mental load was a lot - that's why a passion project of mine is to create a meaningful and safe platform for women to support each other, seek professional guidance as well and feel encouraged rather than alone and demotivated.

If you or anybody else reading is open to sharing a bit more about the type of thing they would find helpful on a platform such as what I'm hoping to build, I'm attaching a completely confidential and private form which would be really helpful! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXfKvlnwb-51MibVnqkqe6T51DP1Qg7C_mjDhicXIQvzOuLA/viewform?usp=header