Same-Sex Marriage: Mental Health Perspectives (Psychiatric Times)

[struggle4progress]

By Arline Kaplan

.. A strong link exists between discrimination and psychological distress, according to Robert Kertzner, MD, and Gilbert Herdt, MD, who recently published an article on the topic in the journal Sexuality Research & Social Policy.3 Their research, supported by the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, was an analysis of 150 studies and articles published during the past 30 years on marriage, discrimination, and denial of marriage to same-sex couples ..

“These studies have shown that the experience of discrimination is associated with increased psychological distress and increased rates of psychiatric morbidity, such as increased rates of depression and anxiety,” Kertzner told Psychiatric Times ..

Yet Herdt and Kertzner,3 in their article, cite numerous studies that show that a significant number of lesbians and gay men form committed long-term relationships that provide stability, support, increased life satisfaction, and an enhanced sense of personal meaning over the lifespan ..

“The one word that they all use in describing their experience in getting married legally is 'surprise,' that is to say, they just didn't know how transforming an experience this would be for them,” Kertzner said. “A case in point: I worked with a man who was in a long-term relationship and got married in Canada about a year ago. He described what it was like for his family to come together and meet his partner's family, and he . . . 'short of a marriage, when do family members of both partners really have an opportunity to meet each other?'” ...

http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/Relationship-Issues/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=192202364

[Deja Q]

1. Some people can't even get a date;

their own laughing at them.

This article is good, but there are more poignant issues as well, such as teaching people how to be nice to each other and going beyond external appearances. THAT is why so few BGLTS get partnered in the first place.

With so many people being so immature, there are so few left to make the claim that civil unions are of benefit.

[w13rd0]

2. As someone who has worked with data collection...

...in the psychiatric field, I can say that data has borne this out for longer than this study. Just look at the higher instances of psychological distresses and disorders among any group which is typically discriminated against...