CHECK Berlin #4

COMMUNITY
Foto: altanaka_stock.adobe.com
The study, published
in the Journal of
Personality and Social
Psychology, was
conducted over a
period of five years
with representative samples of participants
from the United States. It is considered the
most important study of its kind for studying
stressors in the community among gay and
bisexual men. The US blog THEM spoke to
study director John Pachankis, professor
of public health and director of the LGBTQ
Mental Health Initiative at Yale University.
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST
STRESSORS?
In the interview, Pachankis describes that
the stress factors can be divided into four
types:
1. Stress related to the perception that the
gay community is overly focused on sex
at the expense of long-term relationships
or friendships.
2. Stress because participants find that the
gay community is too focused on status
issues such as masculinity, attractiveness
and wealth.
3. Stress from a perception that the gay
community is excessively competitive
and maintains general social competition.
4. Stress because the gay community excludes
diversity, including ethnic and age
diversity, and discriminates against gay
men living with HIV.
The stress community
Depression, Anxiety, and Substance Abuse: The gay
community is considered to be one of the groups at highest
risk of developing mental health issues. For decades, many
scholars have mistakenly assumed that homosexuals are
inherently pathological. A study published in January 2020
looked at how we make each other sick.
WHO SUFFERS THE MOST?
The study found that each of these stressors
are linked to depression and anxiety. How
badly individuals suffer is also related to
which status-based pecking order they fall
into.
When asked which groups were disproportionately
affected, John Pachankis replied
that by and large men of color were more
likely to perceive this stress in the gay
community. In addition, single men were
more likely to be affected, as were men who
described themselves as more feminine.
Men with fewer socio-economic resources
also feel the pressure more, as do men who
do not feel particularly attractive. Interestingly,
it was observed that younger men
were more stressed compared to older men
and that bisexual men were less likely to
suffer from this type of stress.
HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM?
John Pachankis suggests that there is too
little exchange between the generations.
It is known that older LGBTQI * people are
more likely to live alone, which is a risk
factor for depression. And we also know
that LGBTQI * adolescents are in most cases
not born in families that are also LGBTQI
* themselves, so that their parents do not
convey a feeling for this community, its
norms or history. So a good way to learn
these things would be through regular
exchanges between the elders and the
youngest in our community. Pachankis also
suggests that at the same time, the elderly
would likely benefit from contact with the
younger generation. (ts,sw)
ENGLISH
CHECK | AUSGABE 4
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