Deprsn and Suicidaly Gay Men: Implitns for Health Care Provirs - PMC

Contents:

• DEPRSN IS KILLG GAY MEN
• PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BI HAVE MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE E PROBLEMS, SURVEY FDS
• DEPRSN AND SUICIDALY GAY MEN: IMPLITNS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIRS
• GAY MEN’S DEPRSN COPG GUI
• HOMOSEXUALS AND DEPRSN: HELP FOR GAYS WH DEPRSN
• GAY AND DEPRSED
• THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VULNERABLE CHE GAY MEN WH PRSN AND ANXIETY: A CROSS-SECTNAL STUDY
• HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI
• IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND
• GRDR ADDICTN - A CONCERN FOR GAY MENTAL HEALTH?
• GAYPRSN STORI
• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• DEPRSN GAY MEN: HOW TO OVERE AND BEAT GAY DEPRSN
• THERAPY AND TREATMENT FOR GAY MENS DEPRSN
• DIVERSY & HEALTH EQUY EDUTN: LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR AND QUEER/QUTNG
• MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENG OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE: AN TEGRATED LERATURE REVIEW
• REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS
• BETTER DEAD THAN GAY? DEPRSN, SUICI IATN AND ATTEMPT AMONG A SAMPLE OF GAY AND STRAIGHT-INTIFIED MAL AGED 18 TO 24

DEPRSN IS KILLG GAY MEN

The 2013 fifth edn of the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn's Diagnostic and Statistil Manual (DSM) f prsn clilly as a prsive mood or loss of tert or pleasure nearly all activi over a two-week perd, along wh four of the symptoms: “chang appete or weight, sleep, and psychomotor activy; creased energy; feelgs of worthlsns or guilt; difficulty thkg, ncentratg, or makg cisns; or recurrent thoughts of ath or suicidal iatn or suici plans or attempts. “We see gay men who have never been sexually or physilly asslted wh siar post-trmatic strs symptoms to people who have been bat suatns or who have been raped, ” says Alex Kroghlian, a psychiatrist at the Fenway Instute’s Center for Populatn Rearch LGBT Health. Usually when you hear about the shockg primacy of hookup apps gay life—Grdr, the most popular, says s average er spends 90 mut per day on —’s some panicked media story about murrers or homophob trawlg them for victims, or about the troublg “chemsex” scen that have spng up London and New York.

PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BI HAVE MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE E PROBLEMS, SURVEY FDS

Dpe creasg acceptance of the LGBTQ+ muny, at least some circl, adults who intify as gay, lbian or bisexual are more likely than those who intify as straight to have ser thoughts of suici and mental health ndns cludg major prsive episos, and they are more likely to mise substanc like alhol or dgs, acrdg to a new US ernment report. However, gay, bi and straight men seemed to have siar substance e patterns: There was no difference smokg between straight and gay mal, for example, and the rate of bge and heavy drkg the month before they took the survey was the same among gay, bi and straight men.

DEPRSN AND SUICIDALY GAY MEN: IMPLITNS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIRS

“LGBT dividuals experience addnal strs as a rult of discrimatn and stigma, stigma both at the societal level but also the way that livg a society that privileg heterosexualy that has homophobic laws and polici to sort of teach LGB people even to view themselv as ferr, ” Kidd said. “For stance, you n image beg environments that might be validatg of people who have gay and lbian inti but might eher not regnize bisexual inty – so they are sort of visible that space – or might be really validatg of dividuals wh bisexual inty, even while the environment is affirmg or at least a ltle more ntral to folks who are gay or lbian, ” Kidd said.

In terms of potential of prsn and suicidaly gay men, relatnship problems, acceptg one’s homosexualy, experiencg homophobia, stutnal discrimatn, and alienatn om gay muni have been reported as unrpng issu (Cox, 2006; Haas et al., 2011; Wang, Plörl, Hӓermann, & Weiss, 2015) rearch exists about gay men’s health beyond sexual health issu, most often HIV (Hott, Ferlatte, & Gk, 2014). DeprsnDeprsn is fed clilly as the experience of a prsive mood or loss of tert or pleasure nearly all activi over a 2-week perd, along wh four of the followg symptoms: “chang appete or weight, sleep, and psychomotor activy; creased energy; feelgs of worthlsns or guilt; difficulty thkg, ncentratg, or makg cisns; or recurrent thoughts of ath or suicidal iatn or suici plans or attempts” (Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, 2013).

(2008) noted that general practners ed anxiety-related symptoms to intify addnal signs of prsn gay terms of e–effect and triggers for prsn, a range of factors have been tailed, many of which are tertwed wh the strs that n acpany beg part of socially margalized gay muni (Mays & Cochran, 2001; Meyer, 1995, 2003). Young gay men n experience prejudice their fay the form of rejectn, often after disclosg their sexual orientatn durg adolcence, which turn n heighten young men’s risk for prsn (Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009) expectatns of discrimatn and homophobic rejectn n also negatively affect gay men’s mental health (Hatzenbuehler, 2009; Meyer, 2003). Self-acceptance is therefore a cril element for gay men’s well-beg, as is beg accepted by others (Ash & Mackereth, 2013) addn to the four factors tailed Meyer’s (1995, 2003) mory strs mol, a lack of acceptance and rejectn om the gay muny n also crease the risk for gay men’s prsn.

GAY MEN’S DEPRSN COPG GUI

Particularly at risk of rejectn om other gay men are men livg wh HIV (Courtenay-Quirk, Wolski, Parsons, Gómez, & Seroposive Urban Men’s Study Team, 2006) as well as men om racial/ethnic mory groups (Bowleg, 2012; Haile, Rowell-Cunsolo, Parker, Padilla, & Hansen, 2014; Riggs, 2012). Health re provirs workg wh HIV posive gay men have nfirmed that the isolatn and loss of social relatnships and fay support experienced as a rult of this health stat are signifint triggers for prsn (Körner et al., 2008) men who belong to an ethnic mory are at higher risk for prsn. Rearch regardg HIV posive gay men and/or ethnic mory gay men is emergent (De Santis et al., 2008) and future work might efully foc on intifyg and addrsg the unique prsn risk factors among the vulnerable subgroups as a means to improvg their mental and physil health.

As prevly scribed, gay men may have difficulti acceptg their gay inty bee of the society’s negative views on homosexualy, and as such gay men n feel pelled to hi their inty and experience ner nflict amid spisg their sexual orientatn (Körner et al., 2008; McAndrew & Warne, 2010). The thoughts of ternalized homophobia have been scribed as creasg the risk for self-harm among gay men (McLaren, 2016; Plörl et al., 2014) al relatnship between HIV and suicidaly is limed due to sufficient longudal studi and varyg illns fns and diverse study sample characteristics (Haas et al., 2011). As a rult, the prevalence of suici among gay men is approximated and likely men who suici embody diverse plex inti beyond their sexual orientatn, and tersectnaly rearch has argued the need to acunt for multiple social fluenc apprehendg sights to gay men’s suici.

HOMOSEXUALS AND DEPRSN: HELP FOR GAYS WH DEPRSN

This rearch illtrat the value of studyg and addrsg the multiple tersectg social factors on the health dispari experienced by gay men (Ferlatte et al., prs) SeekgRegardls of sexual orientatn, men n be reluctant to seek help for mental health problems (Addis & Mahalik, 2003). For example, gay men who attend clics for sexually transmted fectns or HIV screeng felt stigmatized for their sexual orientatn, suggtg they were treated based on generalizatns and stereotyp stead of their self-reported sexual practic and overall health (Knight, Shoveller, Oliffe, Gilbert, & Golnberg, 2012).

As a rult, gay men may feel “othered” and whhold rmatn om health re provirs about their sexual the ntext of receivg effective help, a range of potential issu have also been highlighted, cludg antiprsants’ si effects, illic substance and alhol ovese, and health re provir misterpretatn of prsive symptoms. Health re provirs n effectively tervene by providg rmatn and muny rourc to extend health rourc beyond their, bee gay men are at higher risk for substance ovese (Kg et al., 2008), they should be asssed for substance ovese, and s potential to be ed to self-medite prsn and/or suicidaly, and alleviate distrs.

Rather than relyg on standardized prsn screeng tools, the health re provirs relied on their experience and relatnships wh patients quirg about the patient’s life and prsive symptoms orr to intify moods and/or social problems related to gay men’s prsn (Körner et al., 2008) help asss and terme the severy of gay men’s suicidaly, health re provirs n e the Suici Preventn Rource Center’s Suici Asssment Five-Step Evaluatn and Triage (SAFE-T; available at).

GAY AND DEPRSED

” Wh so many gay, bi and trans men’s liv revolvg around the social scene – whether a form of pism, tryg to fd a tribe to belong to, or to hook up wh somebody – alhol and dgs have their part to man Daniel knew who he was but felt the world didn’t want to accept him: “When people are nyg your existence, and actg like who you are is weird or creepy, you do what you n to blank out. Deprsn is the number one mental health problem the world and gay men, lbians, and bisexuals are up to twice as likely to suffer om prsn as heterosexuals – not bee they ferr human begs (ntrary to some relig teachgs and other opprsn), but bee the cumulative strs of heterosexism and homophobia society, om too-often fay rejectn, to bullyg, to discrimatn, to lack of full legal civil rights, and even the seemgly relentls anti-gay rhetoric om nservative punds the media, tak an emotnal toll over many years that n ntribute to low self-teem, a poor sense-of-self, and even clil prsn.

The ntributns to the velopment of prsn, addn to a geic propensy your fay and natural bra chemistry, n be both homophobia and isolatn, which is why I offer ssns -person and via phone and Skype, for guys who don’t have lol accs to a gay-specialist therapist/ach your area.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VULNERABLE CHE GAY MEN WH PRSN AND ANXIETY: A CROSS-SECTNAL STUDY

Lobby when you n (wre/email/ll) to your ernment reprentativ (lol/state/feral) and ask for more five rearch mental health for our muny; there is by far not enough gay-affirmative (as opposed to the uhil, effective, and harmful “reparative” therapy, aka “sexual orientatn change efforts”) gog on. People unr 25, nclud somethg siar among Ameri’s youth: Bisexual high school stunts reported more feelgs of sadns and hopelsns and more thoughts of suici than those who intified as heterosexual or ’s also some evince that bisexual people fared worse than their heterosexual and gay unterparts durg the panmic, cludg greater strs, lonels, psychologil distrs and fatigue; and poorer mental and physil health than those intifyg as straight or dispary is often a rult of the prejudic bisexual people face, Dr. The study found that much of this discrimatn often om gay and lbian people, followed by fay members and straight people; and n directly impact bisexual people’s mental health, cludg ntributg to prsn, strs and exacerbated or triggered anxiety (cludg panic attacks and post-trmatic strs disorr).

HOW GAY CULTURE BLOSSOMED DURG THE ROARG TWENTI

One of the most strikg plats for gay men is a loss of sexual tert and pronounced erectile are a myriad of for prsn, cludg geic and environmental on, but scientists agree that people who suffer om prsn have low levels of specific nrotransmters--chemils that affect bra functn--specifilly seroton, norepephre, and dopame. Clil prentatns of closeted gay people may lie somewhere severy between selective attentn--most monly seen the se of homosexually self-aware patients thkg about "the possibily" that they might be gay--to more severe dissociatn-- which any ht of same-sex feelgs ris totally out of nsc awarens. More severe forms of dissociatn are monly observed married men who are homosexually self-aware but nnot perm the thought of themselv as gay (Roughton, 2002) and the ClosetSome closeted gay people n reflexively speak whout revealg the genr of the person beg discsed or whout providg any genred tails of their personal liv.

IS MY HBAND GAY? SIGNS OF A GAY HBAND

Transparency, visibily, losg one's voice, and beg stuck behd walls or other barriers are some of the terms ed to scribe the subjective experience of dissociative tachment (Drcher, 1998) Closet and Gay-BashgFor some gay men, "Hidg and passg as heterosexual be a lifelong moral hatred of the self; a maze of rptns, petty li, and half tths that spoil social relatns fay and iendship" (Herdt and Boxer, 1993).

Herdt and Boxer (1993) classified g out as a rual procs of passage that requir a gay person to 1) unlearn the prcipl of natural or sentialist heterosexualy; 2) unlearn the stereotyp of homosexualy; and 3) learn the ways of the lbian and gay culture they are enterg.

The Begngs of a New Gay World“In the late 19th century, there was an creasgly visible prence of genr-non-nformg men who were engaged sexual relatnships wh other men major Amerin ci, ” says Chad Heap, a profsor of Amerin Studi at Gee Washgton Universy and the thor of Slummg: Sexual and Racial Enunters Amerin Nightlife, 1885-1940. ”At the same time, lbian and gay characters were beg featured a slew of popular “pulp” novels, songs and on Broadway stag (cludg the ntroversial 1926 play The Captive) and Hollywood—at least prr to 1934, when the motn picture dtry began enforcg censorship guil, known as the Hays Co. ” By the post-World War II era, a larger cultural shift toward earlier marriage and suburban livg, the advent of TV and the anti-homosexualy csas champned by Joseph McCarthy would help ph the flowerg of gay culture reprented by the Pansy Craze firmly to the natn’s rear-view mirror.

GRDR ADDICTN - A CONCERN FOR GAY MENTAL HEALTH?

Those who nsir beg gay a disadvantage life (which still is, certa societi), might regard gay people differently if they knew that beg gay was an hered tra, rather than a nsequence of life events, such as a particular type of upbrgg, or mixg wh certa sorts of iends or even a liberate cisn. However, many unhealthy behavrs fall unr the radar yet are classified as such addictn is Grdr, the ee gay hookup app of choice found by Joel a therapist workg wh gay men, I have seen firsthand how hookup apps and datg s n lead to addictive my practice, I help clients who stggle wh pulsive e of the Grdr app, nstantly needg to check the app or engage Grdr chats even appropriate suatns, such as durg work meetgs or social many, the impulsive and persistent pursu of sual sex be a distractn om paful emotns, leadg to this addictive challenge for the men is that, like any addictn, the plex feelgs they tried to pe (e. Gay men wh anxiety, prsn, and alholism often pe their feelgs by spendg a lot of time on, while Grdr might make you appear sirable or feel good the moment, n have a Grdr While In a RelatnshipMost people thk g Grdr while a romantic relatnship is a breach of tst and mment, which is ually nsired we've talked about, Grdr is a datg app meant for short-term sexual enunters, not for buildg long-term relatnships or emotnal, if someone is a mted gay relatnship and Grdr to seek out sexual partners, n lead to feelgs of betrayal, jealoy, and mistst their every uple is unique, and what may be acceptable one relatnship may not be ’s why, if a healthy gay relatnship is important to you, is up to you and your partner to ci what is acceptable and what is though g Grdr while a relatnship n e signifint tst issu and ultimately damage the relatnship, is not a rult, many of my clients see me as helpg them unrstand their impuls and cravgs to e Grdr, even when they are happy wh their Aware of The Grdr IssuGrdr and other gay datg apps have several issu.

GAYPRSN STORI

The cisn to stop chattg wh someone if they make you unfortable or disregard your boundari is acceptable - and often datg apps like Grdr n offer nvenient ways for gay men to nnect wh others, 's ccial to rema aware of the potential pfalls and addictive nature of the takg a mdful approach to app age and prrizg self-re, you n enjoy the benefs of onle nnectns whout jeopardizg your mental health. Specifilly, rtisol secretn (the “strs hormone) creas, affectg seroton and mood are a few exampl of the everyday strsors that many gay men experience:A lack of acceptance and unrstandg om fay and iendsBullygInternalized homophobiaA lack of accs to gay-iendly mental health servicDifficulty fdg acceptance the broar LGBTQ munyEnomic, racial, or genr-based discrimatnOne key factor I see my practice is the strs of not beg accepted or discrimated agast wh society.

This n leave many gay men feelg isolated and addn, this negative stigma many of my clients to experience ep-seated feelgs of low self-worth, leadg to social anxiety, low mood, difficulty sleepg, and alhol or dg gay men also see me bee they stggle wh ternal battl over g out, navigatg relatnships, engagg risky behavr, and fdg acceptance wh their fai or fears n lead to unendg lonels, rultg an abily to pe wh life's prsur, eventually leadg to havg a system prrizg mental health support for gay men or posive role mols also plays a val role this mental illns for many dividuals.

WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

I would propose that if we lived a world whout such strong genr rol, where our same sex sexual attractn and sire was nsired as equal to heterosexual attractn and sire, there would be no differenc the rat of prsn or anxiety between gay, bisexual or straight people. Cens addn, a rerd number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been troduced state legislatur and new laws passed around the untry that seek to lim or ban genr-affirmg re, drag performanc, and books and school curriculums that lift up LGBTQ+ voic and inti, as tailed a prs release published May 2023 by the Human Rights crim agast var LGBTQ+ muni om 2020 to 2021 rose by 15 percent for transgenr people, 41 percent for gay men, 82 percent for lbian women, 83 percent for genr-nonnformg people, and 124 percent for bisexual people, acrdg to the Marshall Project, a nonprof, nonpartisan news anizatn verg the U. Keywords: LGBT, mental health dispari, discrimatn, stigmatisatn, victimisatnIntroductnThe acronym LGBTQ (also LGBTQAP+, LGBTQA, GLBTIQ, LGBT, LGBTQ and other alternat) is an umbrella term that stands for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, tersex, and queer or qutng people.

DEPRSN GAY MEN: HOW TO OVERE AND BEAT GAY DEPRSN

The LGBT dividuals have unique experienc that are shaped by multiple factors, such as race/ethnicy, soc-enomic stat, geographil lotn and age, not jt sexual orientatn (Farmer & Yancu 2015:37) lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people differ om ‘tradnal’ mori two aspects: (1) they are not necsarily regnisable through physil characteristics and (2) they are still perceived many ntexts as actg agast natural procs (Takács 2015:10). N = 914 subjects who had sexual partners of the same sex the past 12 months, the past 5 years, or sce age 18, reprentative sample of sexual mori om the non-stutnalised English-speakg USA populatn aged 18 and vtigate whether stctural stigma (livg muni wh high levels of anti-gay prejudice) creas the risk of premature mortaly for sexual mori. N = 770 rponnts who self-intified as lbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgenr (91 transgenr and 676 non-transgenr), over the age of 19 asss whether transgenr inty is associated wh an elevated probabily of reported discrimatn, prsn symptoms and suicidal attempts pared wh non-transgenr LGB dividuals.

THERAPY AND TREATMENT FOR GAY MENS DEPRSN

N = 2846 LGBT dividuals non-probabilistic and tentnally sampled analyse the associatn between ternalised homophobia, homophobic vlence, discrimatn, and muny nnectedns and alhol e and prsive symptoms LGBT dividuals(h) Aims and objectiv clearly stated(h) Study sign aquately scribed(h) Rearch methods appropriate(nr) Explic theoretil amework(l) Limatns prented(i) Implitns discsedData abstractn and synthisTwo rearchers analysed the selected publitns penntly by thematic analysis. (2013) USAMory strsorsLGBT youth:Mental health risk factors related to stctural/societal levels and terpersonal teractns wh fay and peers characterised by mory for studi to intify trapersonal strengths or pg strategi orr to overe mory dividuals:Internalised homophobia.

The mory strs mol (Meyer 2003:35) helps to unrstand the relatnships between (1) external strsors such as stigmatisatn, discrimatn and victimisatn based on a person’s mory stat and (2) ternal strsors such as expectatns of rejectn, ncealment of sexual orientatn and ternalised homophobia.

DIVERSY & HEALTH EQUY EDUTN: LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR AND QUEER/QUTNG

News ReleaseTuday, November 9, 2021Suici risk among lbian, gay, and bisexual adults vari nsirably pendg on the tersectn between sexual inty and other aspects of inty, such as genr, age, and race/ethnicy, acrdg to a study led by rearchers at the Natnal Instute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the Natnal Instut of Health. The study, which examed data om a natnally reprentative survey of adults the Uned Stat, also showed that lbian, gay, and bisexual adults are overall more likely to report suici-related thoughts, plans, and attempts wh the past 12 months pared wh heterosexual adults.

“This study monstrat the importance of askg about sexual inty natnal data llectn efforts, and highlights the prsg need for suici preventn servic that addrs the specific experienc and needs of lbian, gay, and bisexual adults of different genrs, ag, and race and ethnic groups, ” said Rajeev Ramchand, Ph.

MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENG OF LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE: AN TEGRATED LERATURE REVIEW

When the rearchers looked at the specific tersectn between mory sexual inty and race/ethnicy, they found that whe and Black women who intified as bisexual were more likely to report suicidal thoughts relative to whe and Black women who intified as lbian or gay.

REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS

BETTER DEAD THAN GAY? DEPRSN, SUICI IATN AND ATTEMPT AMONG A SAMPLE OF GAY AND STRAIGHT-INTIFIED MAL AGED 18 TO 24