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

Contents:

• HOMOSEXUALS AND DEPRSN: HELP FOR GAYS WH DEPRSN
• DEPRSN IS KILLG GAY MEN
• IM GAY AND IM ATTRACTED TO MY FATHER..
• DEPRSN AND SUICIDALY GAY MEN: IMPLITNS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIRS
• GAY MEN’S DEPRSN COPG GUI
• THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VULNERABLE CHE GAY MEN WH PRSN AND ANXIETY: A CROSS-SECTNAL STUDY

HOMOSEXUALS AND DEPRSN: HELP FOR GAYS WH DEPRSN

Deprsn n be a ser issue for anyone but homosexual prsn may be an even bigger ncern as gay people are at greater risk for prsn and other mental illns than the general populatn. This crease gay prsn isn't bee an dividual is gay, but rather bee gay people live a society that shows stigma and discrimatn towards sexual mory populatns.

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. As a Canadian study showed, suici among HIV-posive gay and bisexual men has been associated wh a recent experience of HIV stigma such as rejectn, harassment, and physil vlence. Health re provirs workg wh gay men should first tablish rapport and tst by displayg empathy and not makg assumptns about an dividual’s behavr and sexual choic based on generalizatns about “all” gay men.

IM GAY AND IM ATTRACTED TO MY FATHER..

Speakg openly and ankly about the disproportnate impact of prsn on gay men, and prrizg our mental health and well-beg, we n chase that big gray elephant out of the room—and keep om harmg any more of . Then, I have hardly ever bond wh him any way, he ma some effort to aproach me and learn more about me and my gay life, but he is still the same person who ( my opn) didn't give a damn about me when I was a child.

Dpe the high prevalence of prsn and suicidaly, health rearchers and health re provirs have tend to foc on sexual health issu, most often human immunoficiency vis gay men. Related to this, gay men’s health has often been fed by sexual practic, and poorly unrstood are the tersectns of gay men’s physil and mental health wh social termants of health cludg ethnicy, lole, tn level, and socenomic stat. In the current article summated is lerature addrsg risk factors for prsn and suicidaly among gay men cludg fay acceptance of their sexual inti, social hn and belongg, ternalized stigma, and victimizatn.

Barriers to gay men’s help seekg are also discsed tailg how health re provirs might advance the well-beg of this unrserved subgroup by effectively addrsg prsn and suicidaly. Keywords: gay men’s health, prsn, suicidaly, men’s health, men’s help seekgIntroductnDeprsn is prevalent among gay men, where gay men are three tim more likely to experience prsn pared wh the general adult populatn (Cox, 2006; Kg et al., 2008).

DEPRSN AND SUICIDALY GAY MEN: IMPLITNS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIRS

Wh this ntext, there is strong evince that gay men are more likely than heterosexual men to experience suicidaly (Brennan, Ross, Dobson, Veldhuizen, & Steele, 2010; Hott, Bogaert, Rhos, Brennan, & Gk, 2016; Kg et al., 2008). Deprsn and suicidaly may also crease gay men’s risk of alhol and dg ovese, unprotected anal terurse, and human immunoficiency vis (HIV; Cox, 2006; Ferlatte, Dulai, Hott, Tssler & Marchand, 2015). 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).

Though gay men self-report that they rank mental health as one of their top health ncerns (Grov, Ventuneac, Renda, Jimenez, & Parsons, 2013) prsn and suicidaly the liv of gay men are poorly unrstood (Haas et al., 2011; Kg et al., 2008). However, to tap to the potential to rce gay men’s prsn and suici, health re provirs need to be better equipped to discs and evaluate nnectns between prsn, suici, and sexualy. 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).

GAY MEN’S DEPRSN COPG GUI

(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).

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

Meyer’s (1995, 2003) mory strs mol highlighted four ternnected factors: (a) prejudice events, (b) expectatns of rejectn and discrimatn, (c) ncealment of inty, and (d) ternalized homophobia.