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View Full Version : Study: Bisexuals at Higher Risk of Mental Illness


Shelby
05-02-2002, 01:43 PM
<a href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=585&ncid=753&e=1&u=/nm/20020430/sc_nm/health_bisexual_dc_1" target="_blank">The Link</a>

LONDON (Reuters) - Bisexual people are more likely to have mental health problems than either heterosexual or homosexual adults, a study published on Wednesday found.

An Australian study published in the May issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry found that young and middle-aged adults who identified themselves as bisexual had the deepest feelings of anxiety, depression and negativity.

"It is possible that having neither a clear heterosexual or homosexual orientation is an important stressor, in addition to the social pressures of having a different sexual orientation to the majority," the authors of the study said in the article.

Adverse experiences in childhood and adulthood, poorer social support and financial problems were identified as the main risk factors behind mental health problems in bisexuals.

Homosexual adults also reported such problems, although they were not generally as severe as among bisexuals. But both groups were identified as being more likely to have suicidal ideas or intentions than heterosexuals.

The report came from the PATH Through Life Project, which interviewed 20-24 year olds in 1999 and 2000 and 40-44 year-olds in 2000-01 as the first part of a 20-year study into adult mental health. A total of 4,824 adults in Canberra, Australia were questioned.

The study also found that more women identified themselves as homosexual or bisexual than men -- 4.5 percent of young women and 2.7 percent of older women, compared with 2.7 percent of young men and 2.4 percent of older men.

Of the younger age group, 1 percent of men and 1.8 percent of women identified themselves as homosexual while 1.8 percent of men and 2.7 percent of women said they were bisexual.

In the older age group, 1.6 percent of men and 2 percent of women said they were homosexual compared with 0.8 percent of men and women who said they were bisexual.
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Well, that explains it. I must be insane!

Jason Pollock
05-02-2002, 03:01 PM
No shit.

Jason Pollock
05-02-2002, 03:14 PM
Look at it - wink

Just in case you missed it - wink

I don't have to know a damned thing about your sex life to know that you're a nut!

Coyote
05-02-2002, 03:17 PM
Funny. All the folks I know that are bi (that I know of, obviously) are some of the most grounded, sane people I know.
Then again, I don't know anybody in Canberra, Australia.
You see, that's why I love psychologits.* Great, you interviewed nearly 5k people in ONE CULTURAL AREA. Must be true everywhere. Let's publish on the other side of the world.
Of course, it's possible the original report said that in the area, these conditions are true, and didn't try to apply it to London, Siberia, and the West Indies, and it just got lost in translation by the reporter.

*Not to be confused with psychologists, who actually do know what they're doing.

Xymog (Mike Toot)
05-02-2002, 04:16 PM
Shelby
"It is possible that having neither a clear heterosexual or homosexual orientation is an important stressor, in addition to the social pressures of having a different sexual orientation to the majority," the authors of the study said in the article.I recall reading in one of the local rags here in Seattle that bisexual people feel pressured by both heteros and gays / lesbians -- it's the old, "If you're not one of us, you must be one of them." You always have to hide half of who you are, no matter which group you're hanging with, because you'll be treated as an outsider.

Although on the plus side, as Woody Allen says, "Being bisexual doubles your chances of finding a date on Saturday night."