Celebrating ways Romantasy helps support our mental health
The Romantasy Therapist is a qualified and experienced relationship and trauma therapist
In Kaylie Smith’s dark fantasy romance Phantasma, Blackwell helps Ophelia to self-regulate with breathing exercises when she is unable to sleep due to intrusions from The Shadow Voice. In Danielle L. Jensen’s A Fate Inked in Blood, Freya wishes there was a way ‘to not be constantly thinking’. Bodil teaches her breathing exercises to help. Breathing exercises help regulate the nervous system and promote relaxation, especially during panic or sleep difficulties.
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When they get to know their ‘enemy’ a bit better, many Romantasy characters realise they’ve never felt so strongly or deeply before, at last appreciating how shallow and inadequate previous relationships have been. In Kaylie Smith’s Phantasma, for instance, Ophelia realises that her ex, Elliott, made her feel broken. Freya from Danielle L. Jensen’s A Fate Inked in Blood, knew her husband Vragi was a dead loss, but hadn’t been aware quite how much passion he lacked until she met Bjorn. And though Feyre, in Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses, ends up remembering her former boyfriend Isaac with fondness, she realises their encounters were not a patch on what she experiences with Tamlin. We too often expect less than we deserve and even settle for a relationship that makes us sad and resentful.
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Many of the couples in Romantasy start out with pretend relationships or as enemies. What has us hugging ourselves with anticipation and delight is their slow transition to lovers, with plenty of misunderstandings and near misses along the way. But quite a few of these guys, at least initially, have some pretty terrible attitudes and behaviours. While they may have an immediate attraction to our narrator (who is usually the love interest), they can still be pretty dreadful to everyone else.
(more…)If Romantasy is good for your mood, we’d love to hear how it’s helping your mental health. Romantasy is supportive to mental health in lots of different ways, from reflecting real life concerns to providing an escape from them.
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The Romantasy Therapist 