I went to an event on bisexual visibility in London with a friend last weekend. I admit that before this event, I didn't know much about bisexual visibility in London; except that obviously everyone is allowed to show their own sexual orientation in London, no matter what that might be.
So, as a new-comer, I picked up some leaflets and information that they had on tables around the cosy pub where the event took place. One leaflet in particular caught my eye. It was on bisexuality and mental health. I learnt that bisexual people have the worst mental health problems, including higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide. This has been found in the UK and internationally, and is linked to experiences of biphobia and bisexual invisibility.
I was surprised as I had never thought of this issue before. I asked my friend about it and she said that it was probably also linked to the fact that people couldn't 'box' bisexuals as easily as they could people with other sexual orientations. She said that there was also a lot of prejudice around the issue as people tended to think that bisexuals were less likely to want to stay in long-term relationships and were more likely to swap from one partner to another.
When I got home, I found some interesting articles on the issue. I include here one of the most informative ones. I am sure that it will open your eyes to the issue as much as it opened my eyes.
http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory/6946/16/02/2012/bisexuals-endure-worse-mental-health-problems-and-suffer-equality-gap-report-claims.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment