Why do you think male homosexual have more mood and anxiety disorders?

[TaraJo]

Why do gay men have more mood and anxiety disorders?  True, I think discrimination against gay people plays a role.  I also wonder if social expectations of men play a role, too. I mean, I remember, back before I transitioned, if I was upset, if I cried, if I ever really expressed very many emotions, the response I usually got was "man up" or "be a man."  

So, part of me wonders, maybe gay men don't have these issues more as much as they're willing to express these issues more.  Specifically, while straight men may worry that it makes them "girly" to feel upset or angry or to be seen crying, gay men don't have those worries quite so much.  It would make an interesting study if I was a sociology or psych major.

[Regina]

^Exactly

Being gay is not a mental illness in and of itself. For something to classify as a "mental illness" it has to affect your ability to function normally in everyday situations.

It's the discrimination and the expectations put upon men. When you are othered and bullied for being gay, it's natural it's going to wear you down at some points even if you are very thick-skinned. It's especially true with gay teens. It's like being a teenager is hard enough already, but throw on having to find yourself, accept yourself, deal with hate and ignorance it's enough to drive anyone to suicide. I don't talk about it much, but I went through a phase of self-harm as a teen. I'm not gonna defend it, it was crazy, but I honestly felt it was the only way to get relief at the time.

[CapnAwesome]

It seems scientifically close minded to conclude that it's all about stigma and discrimination without studying it first. It would be a hard thing to draw conclusions about really. Who knows how different genes are related and also about the correlation between childhood abuse and men who have sex with men later in life.

"In sum, regardless of the rigor of the sample selection, when comparing MSM [men who have sex with men] samples to general male population samples, and when comparing MSM and heterosexual men within one sample, MSM consistently report more CSA [childhood sexual abuse] overall and more CSA with males than heterosexual men do; and no differences are observed for reported abuse by females… These studies bolster our conclusion that a disparity exists between gay/bisexual men and heterosexual men when it comes to CSA by males. While it is possible that these differences may be an artifact of reporting biases (e.g., heterosexual men being less willing to report being victimized by a man or to report that early heterosexual contact is abuse as opposed to initiation), it seems unlikely that reporting bias would account for a difference of this consistency and magnitude across a wide range of samples."

http://borngay.procon.org/view.answers.p...nID=000029

It certainly seems like that could cause some anexity's. From my (admittedly brief) bit of looking into it I would say that it really hasn't been studied well enough to draw any concrete conclusions, yet most people on here are willing to automatically put it all down to dealing with bigotry. I think this is a huge problem with political correctness, and politically correct beliefs that prescribe all problems to something like external bigotry automatically. You can't really get to know the real solution without studying multiple angles and then can't do anything to help out.

[Razzle]

It seems scientifically close minded to conclude that it's all about stigma and discrimination without studying it first. It would be a hard thing to draw conclusions about really. Who knows how different genes are related and also about the correlation between childhood abuse and men who have sex with men later in life.

"In sum, regardless of the rigor of the sample selection, when comparing MSM [men who have sex with men] samples to general male population samples, and when comparing MSM and heterosexual men within one sample, MSM consistently report more CSA [childhood sexual abuse] overall and more CSA with males than heterosexual men do; and no differences are observed for reported abuse by females… These studies bolster our conclusion that a disparity exists between gay/bisexual men and heterosexual men when it comes to CSA by males. While it is possible that these differences may be an artifact of reporting biases (e.g., heterosexual men being less willing to report being victimized by a man or to report that early heterosexual contact is abuse as opposed to initiation), it seems unlikely that reporting bias would account for a difference of this consistency and magnitude across a wide range of samples."

http://borngay.procon.org/view.answers.p...nID=000029

It certainly seems like that could cause some anexity's. From my (admittedly brief) bit of looking into it I would say that it really hasn't been studied well enough to draw any concrete conclusions, yet most people on here are willing to automatically put it all down to dealing with bigotry. I think this is a huge problem with political correctness, and politically correct beliefs that prescribe all problems to something like external bigotry automatically. You can't really get to know the real solution without studying multiple angles and then can't do anything to help out.

The problem is there is a lot of bogus research out there by organisations with an anti-gay agenda. I don't know enough about the research you mention to say whether it's in that category or not, but regardless, the fact that it is frequently used by people with an anti-gay agenda to argue that sexual abuse can make a person gay (because they think this would give credence to conversion therapy being effective), means that some people will dismiss the claim that there is a correlation in a knee-jerk fashion, assuming it must be bogus as well.

Without looking into the research in any depth, it is plausible to me that the correlation could be real, because it's already well-established that certain types of children are more likely to be sexually abused than others, and there are average (just average, no over-generalisations happening here) differences in behaviour, leisure activities and family and peer relationships between pre-homosexual boys and pre-heterosexual boys. Behaviour, leisure activities and family and peer relationships could all mediate the link between orientation and childhood sexual abuse, if there is one. Child molesters disproportionately target outsider children who are less confident and well-adjusted socially, or who already have behavioural problems (the latter perhaps because they're less likely to be believed if they do tell, or a sudden worsening in behaviour or mental health will be less surprising/suspicious). I hate to suggest it but I personally speculate that they might also target children who are less involved in physical sports, at least for rape, because it will be easier for the victim to hide their physical discomfort if they already tended towards more sedentary activities.