MENTAL HEALTH AND SEXUAL MINORITIES

Content Verification

Written by:✓

Tatyana Dyachenko
Psychologist and Relationship Adviser

Medically Reviewed by:✓

Veronika Matutyte
Medical Doctor

Fact Checked by:✓

Katie Lasson
Sex and Relationship Adviser

Sexual minorities are groups of individuals whose orientation, sexual identity, or practices differ from the majority of the society around them. They include lesbians, the gay community, transgender, intersex, and bisexual or non-binary individuals. These groups tend to face many social discrimination and violations from the larger community, making them more prone to mental issues. These people have been under pressure for a long time; hence, most live in denial or fear. These pressures contribute a lot to their mental health state, and they have a higher risk of self-injury.

BDSM 

According to Airaksinen (2019), BDSM is a variety of mostly sexual arousing activities that include bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism. Relationship in BDSM is characterized by complementary roles but involve inequality of power. The dominant partner takes full psychological control of the submissive partner. Moser & Kleinplatz (2007) stated that whipping may also be involved, but for recreational purposes. The dominant gives out orders, and the submissive one receives them. Most people do not find pain arousing or sensational, but this group does. They first engage in careful negotiations and agreements before play, in which they discuss their boundaries, limits, and safewords. According to Schori, Jackowski & Schön (2021), safe words can be used to end an activity. Each individual is responsible for discussing the preferences, limits, and after-care of the submissive partner for those that require it. According to Noessel (2006), BDSM enhances trust. BDSM players believe that the experiences bring joy, pleasure, and better sexual satisfaction. This group is not as widespread as the gay or lesbian community but is also faced with challenges because of their sexual orientation. The factors that contribute to their disturbed mental state include;

• Fear of coming out to self or someone else.
• Being uncomfortable with the BDSM identity. 
• Fear of not finding people or partners with similar interests.
• The unclarity of sexual interests or dynamics would be most satisfying.
• Mismatch in sexual preferences in a relationship.
• Difficulty in sharing the BDSM community space with an Ex. 
• Shame and guilt about accidentally hurting a partner or crossing a partner’s boundary.
• Recovering from an abusive BDSM relationship, among others.

Lesbians and Gay Community (LGBTQ)

Lesbians are ladies sexually attracted to other women, while gay commonly refers to males who are sexually attracted to other males. This group is commonly known as the rainbow community and uses rainbow colors as their symbol. According to King et al. (2003), gay men and lesbians suffer more mental issues than their heterosexual counterparts. They are more prone to substance use disorders and even suicide. There are several perspective ways that some communities perceive them. For instance, gay men are seen and perceived as hyper-sexual potential HIV carriers. It is due to the stigma, discrimination, and prejudice they face from the community. The increased prevalence of these episodes has led to the establishment of LGBTQ communities around the globe that help and support their fellow brothers and sisters. These groups encourage those hiding their true selves to embrace who they are. They are constantly pushing to break the normal gender norm, which is often seen as a huge threat. The consequences of breaking the normal norms include exclusion from work or health care systems, subjection to close scrutiny, being gossiped about by the community, and abuse of all kinds, including violence. 

Homophobic Phobia

A homophobic phobia is the negative attitudes and feelings directed towards homosexuality or people involved in homosexual activities. Lesbians and gay men are frequently harassed and violated due to their sexuality, sexual orientation, or gender identity. It may be physical or psychological violence influenced by factors like religion, cultural practices, or political biases. Currently, in the west, homosexual acts are legal in almost all the states, and it is classified as hat crime. In other countries, these legal acts are yet to be well established. Violent crimes against LGBT tend to be malicious compared to other crimes. There are cases of people being shot at random and others badly molested or raped before being killed. Others go to extreme extents of torturing and mutilating LGBT people because of their sexual identity.

Religion and Homosexuality

Islam 

In the story of Lot, people were destroyed by the wrath of Allah because of engaging in sinful and lustful acts between men. Because of this, homosexuality is greatly discouraged in Muslim- majority countries. In these countries, legal punishments are imposed and utilized on people involved in homosexuality. In some of these states, such as Indonesia, capital punishment is imposed for honor killings of gay men and women. The death penalty was imposed on both the active and passive male gay partners by Prophet Muhammad, making it clear damnation among the Islam community. It makes it hard for gay people to express themselves freely in these communities.

Christianity

There are a variety of views about homosexuality in Christianity. It makes people have different opinions regarding the same. Those that firmly believe homosexuality is a sin greatly condemn lesbians and gay men living in the same community. Some go to the state of banning homosexuals from attending services in the church. This discrimination leads to the deterioration of the mental health of the victims. In addition, this makes them feel insecure in the community, and it may lead to depression and eventually suicide.

Family Rejections 

Many homosexuals are rejected by their families, and the effects are heartbreaking, especially for the young people trying to discover themselves. They end up homeless and devastated, increasing the risk of drug abuse and poverty. Health problems may arise as a result of that.

In Schools

LGBT people often find themselves being bullied or teased because of their sexual identity in schools. They also face discrimination from other students, leading to poor performance and possibly dropping out of school.

Conclusion

The sexual minorities in our communities face huge challenges, which go unnoticed most of the time. People should be given their freedom of expression and be accepted as they are because we all have different tastes and preferences. It would be best to treat people like you would like to be treated. Sexually based-violence should be highly curbed.

References

Airaksinen, T. (2019). Sadomasochistic Desire. In Vagaries of Desire: A Collection of Philosophical Essays (pp. 183-201). Brill.

Moser, C., & Kleinplatz, P. J. (2007). Themes of SM expression. Safe, sane, and consensual: Contemporary perspectives on sadomasochism, 35-54.

Noessel, C. (2006). Master John: Peripheral safety and feedback system for practitioners of BDSM. In Workshop on sexual interactions, ACM Conf. on computer human interaction, CHI.

King, M., McKeown, E., Warner, J., Ramsay, A., Johnson, K., Cort, C., ... & Davidson, O. (2003). Mental health and quality of life of gay men and lesbians in England and Wales: controlled, cross-sectional study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 183(6), 552-558.Schori, A., Jackowski, C., & Schön, C. A. (2021). How safe is BDSM? A literature review on fatal outcome in BDSM play. International journal of legal medicine, 1-9.