Are Gay Men in Worse Mental Health than Heterosexual Men? The Role of Age, Shame and Guilt, and Coming-Out

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 144-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane A. Bybee ◽  
Eric L. Sullivan ◽  
Erich Zielonka ◽  
Elizabeth Moes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Shame And Guilt

scholarly journals Developing Resilience: Gay Men’s Response to Systemic Discrimination

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1473-1485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Handlovsky ◽  
Vicky Bungay ◽  
John Oliffe ◽  
Joy Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Protective Processes ◽  
Systemic Discrimination ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Over 40 Years ◽  
Respectful Care

Gay men experience marked health disparities compared to heterosexual men, associated with profound discrimination. Resilience as a concept has received growing attention to increase understanding about how gay men promote and protect their health in the presence of adversity. Missing in this literature are the perspectives and experiences of gay men over 40 years. This investigation, drawing on grounded theory methods, examined how gay men over 40 years of age develop resilience over the course of their lives to promote and protect their health. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 25 men ranging between 40 and 76 years of age who experienced an array of health concerns including depression, anxiety, suicidality, and HIV. Men actively resist discrimination via three interrelated protective processes that dynamically influence the development of resilience over their life course: (a) building and sustaining networks, (b) addressing mental health, and (c) advocating for respectful care encounters. Initiatives to promote and protect the health of gay men must be rooted in the recognition of the systemic role of discrimination, while supporting men’s resilience in actively resisting discrimination.

scholarly journals Mental health and quality of life of gay men and lesbians in England and Wales

2003 ◽  
Vol 183 (6) ◽  
pp. 552-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael King ◽  
Eamonn McKeown ◽  
James Warner ◽  
Angus Ramsay ◽  
Katherine Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Psychological Status ◽  
Heterosexual Men ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Heterosexual Women

BackgroundLittle is known about the mental health of gay men and lesbians living in Europe.AimsTo compare psychological status, quality of life and use of mental health services by lesbians and gay men with heterosexual people.MethodCross-sectional study in England and Wales using ‘snowball’ sampling.ResultsParticipants: 656 gay men, 505 heterosexual men, 430 lesbians and 588 heterosexual women. Gay men were more likely than heterosexual men to score above threshold on the Clinical Interview Schedule, indicating greater levels of psychological distress (RR 1.24, 95% Cl 1.07–1.43), as were lesbians compared with heterosexual women (RR 1.30, 95% Cl 1.11-1.52). Gay men and lesbians were more likely than heterosexuals to have consulted a mental health professional in the past, deliberately harmed themselves and used recreational drugs. Lesbians were more likely to have experienced verbal and physical intimidation and to consume more alcohol than heterosexual women.ConclusionsAwareness of mental health issues for gay men and lesbians should become a standard part of training for mental health professionals, who need to be aware of the potential for substance misuse and self-harm in this group and of the discrimination experienced by many lesbians.

scholarly journals The Role of the Avatar in Gaming for Trans and Gender Diverse Young People

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (22) ◽  
pp. 8617
Author(s):  
Helen Morgan ◽  
Amanda O'Donovan ◽  
Renita Almeida ◽  
Ashleigh Lin ◽  
Yael Perry
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Therapeutic Benefits ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
And Gender

A significant proportion of trans and gender diverse (TGD) young people report membership of the gaming community and resultant benefits to wellbeing. To date their experiences and needs regarding a key feature of games, the avatar, are largely unexplored, despite increasing interest in the therapeutic role of avatars in the general population. The aim of this study was to better understand the role of the avatar in gaming, its impact on TGD young people’s mental health, and their unique needs regarding avatar design. N = 17 TGD young people aged 11–22 years (M = 16.3 years) participated in four focus groups. A general inductive approach was used to thematically analyze the transcribed data. TGD young people report considerable therapeutic benefits of using avatars with positive mental health implications. Importantly, TGD young people use avatars to explore, develop and rehearse their experienced gender identities, often as a precursor to coming out in the offline world. They also report negative experiences of feeling excluded due to the constraints of conventional notions of gender that are widely reflected in game design. Participants described simple design features to better reflect gender diversity, such as increased customization. Such changes would facilitate the positive gains reported by participants and better reflect the diversity of young people who use games. The findings have important implications for both recreational and serious or therapeutic game design.

scholarly journals The Impact of Homophobic Labels on the Internalized Homophobia and Body Image of Gay Men: The Moderation Role of Coming-Out

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 356-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Bianchi ◽  
Valentina Piccoli ◽  
Davide Zotti ◽  
Fabio Fasoli ◽  
Andrea Carnaghi
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Gay Men ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Internalized Homophobia ◽  
The Impact
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document