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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

British Study: Homosexuality Increases Risk of Depression, Suicide

A new British study by researchers at University College London, St Pancras Hospital and the Medical Research Council has found that homosexuals are about 50% more likely to experience depression and substance abuse than the general population.

According to LifeSiteNews:

After analyzing 25 earlier studies on sexual orientation and mental health, researchers, in a study published in the medical journal BMC Psychiatry, also revealed that the risk of suicide jumped over 200% if an individual had engaged in a homosexual lifestyle.

The article also points out that while some try to lay blame for these psychological problems at the feet of "intolerance," homosexuals exhibit the same symptoms in environments where homosexuality is tolerated and accepted.

When we live our lives in a habitually immoral manner that strains the conscience, mental and emotional problems usually ensue.

Instead of encouraging people to live in homosexual lifestyles, if we really cared about them, we would be making the dangers known (as we do with drug use and other dangerous behaviors) and encouraging them to live healthy, positive lifestyles.

Instead, we embrace our own cowardice as we embrace homosexuality because we're too afraid to be thought of as the "bad guy."


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The article also points out that while some try to lay blame for these psychological problems at the feet of 'intolerance,' homosexuals exhibit the same symptoms in environments where homosexuality is tolerated and accepted."

I thought Christians weren't supposed to lie. Bob, the article says no such thing! You are assuming that because some of the surveys used in the study came from places like Massachusetts, Norway, colleges, and high schools, then naturally these areas are completely accepting of homosexuality. The article does not say that! Go to a high school in a rough Boston neighborhood and tell me that it's gay-friendly. Just because the law accepts something does NOT mean that all of the people in that place do as well. Did the article say that the participants' families were accepting? No. If it had, such a finding would make a big difference, but determining causation was not the point of this study.


What the article DOES say is, unfortunately, not in your favor:

"Our study aimed to determine whether there was unequivocal evidence for a preponderance of mental health problems in LGB people relative to heterosexuals. Thus, circumspection is required when discussing possible mechanisms which generate them. Although our evidence does not specify the nature of such mechanisms, there is no evidence to suggest that homosexuality is itself a disorder that is thereby subject to a higher co-morbidity than is found in heterosexuals. This review was strictly limited to documenting whether or not there was an excess of mental health problems in LGB people. It will take other, prospective research to investigate the components of this vulnerability. Unfortunately prospective studies were unusual among the 25 reviewed here and thus we cannot say much with certainty about the risk factors for mental disorder in LGB people. Nevertheless, it is likely that the social hostility, stigma and discrimination that most LGB people experience is at least part of the reason for the higher rates of psychological morbidity observed. This may be aggravated by easy access to alcohol and drugs in gay venues that LGB people frequent both to find the company of others who will accept them less critically and to meet potential partners. However, why LB women are at greater risk of substance misuse than GB men is not clear as most LGB commercial venues provide alcohol."

A few key excerpts:

"There is no evidence to suggest that homosexuality is itself a disorder that is thereby subject to a higher co-morbidity than is found in heterosexuals."

In other words, there is nothing inherently characteristic about homosexuality that causes gay people to have more psychological problems than straight people.

"This review was strictly limited to documenting whether or not there was an excess of mental health problems in LGB people."

As demonstrated above, the article's purpose is explicit and limited; it did not set out to assign blame or causation for these psychological problems. A sociological report like this focuses on "what" rather than "why."

"It is likely that the social hostility, stigma and discrimination that most LGB people experience is at least part of the reason for the higher rates of psychological morbidity observed. This may be aggravated by easy access to alcohol and drugs in gay venues that LGB people frequent both to find the company of others who will accept them less critically and to meet potential partners."

I think this one is self-explanatory. The more we persecute gay people and the more we relegate them to the outskirts of society (namely, in bars, clubs, "gay ghettos," and the few other places where gay people feel safe to socialize openly without fire-and-brimstone condemnation), the more likely they are to encounter drugs and alcohol, and thereby exacerbate these mental health problems. A reasonable conclusion is that social acceptance and legitimization would mitigate the reported psychological morbidity among homosexuals and offer them a broader range of places in which to socialize, ones that do not encourage drug and alcohol use. Take it from someone who has personal experience: it's not that gay people instinctively gravitate toward nasty, sweaty clubs to meet friends and potential partners - it's that there are so few alternatives that they really don't have much of a choice. Also consider the many gay bathhouses in this country; how much are you willing to bet that most of those patrons are closeted men with wives and children? It's usually not the open, well-adjusted gay men who frequent these places. If they want homosexual affection, they can just go home to their partners, where they don't have to worry about catching something from a Larry Craig or a Ted Haggard.

I hope you're starting to get the picture that social acceptance is a major factor in the mental well-being of homosexuals. Just imagine how you would feel if everyone you know refused to accept your relationship with your wife and treated you like a mentally ill and sexually broken deviant. Imagine how you would feel if friends you'd known since high school suddenly broke all ties with you after finding out that you have sex with a woman. Imagine your frustration at being treated like a stereotype, someone who will inevitably get an STD or a drug addiction because that seems to be the trend among people "like you," when you know you're not like that at all. Imagine your parents being eager to talk about your siblings' "normal" relationships, while treating yours like the family's dark secret. Imagine not being the first to know if your wife died in a car accident, because South Dakota does not recognize you as the next of kin. All of these things take a drastic toll on the self-esteem and self-concept of gay people. With treatment like this, it's no wonder why so many have trouble maintaining healthy relationships, become depressed, turn to drugs, and even take their own lives. When not even your own parents accept you for who you are, on some level you start to feel like you deserve all of the ugliness that comes your way.

Your summary had me convinced that this might actually have been a solid, foolproof article. But the deception you've displayed here is pretty low, Bob, even for you. I have never seen a more shameless example of someone blatantly misrepresenting a sociological report and interpreting objective findings to fit his own predetermined conclusion! You can't read what you WANT to read from a scientific document; it has to be backed up with textual evidence! Out of genuine curiosity, have you taken courses in psychology and sociology and learned the proper way to read research articles?

If I'm wrong about any of this, then I challenge you to prove it. Simply cut and paste.

Bob Ellis said...

Go back and read the article again; I'm sure if you do it with your eyes, open, you'll find the statement I referred to.

If you read other research also, you'll find that homosexuals experience the same problems with diseases, depression, substance abuse and suicide even in environments where homosexuality is accepted.

When someone operates outside what is normal, natural, and healthy, then it is reasonable to expect people who DO live within normal, natural and healthy parameters to experience a lack of acceptance for those who violate standards of normality, nature and health. That is not to entitle those operating within the norm to abuse or otherwise harm those operating outside the norm, but it is a perfectly normal and understandable response.

When someone lives the life of a drunk, they shouldn't expect everyone to glowingly accept their behavior and lifestyle. When someone cheats on their spouse, they shouldn't expect everyone to treat them as if nothing wrong were happening. If someone was obsessed with gambling and placed their job, family and welfare at stake to feed this obsession, they shouldn't expect those around them to accept and celebrate their behavior.

Nevertheless, there are pockets of society that do embrace the same insanity as those who revel in the homosexual lifestyle...and still homosexuals experience higher degrees of promiscuity, disease and mental/emotional problems.

Go back and read this article again, and read the study again. And also read other studies and research on the pitfalls of homosexual behavior. You'll find that it's a terrible, terrible thing to do to yourself and to others--for moral, mental and physical reasons.

Of course, you're free to continue doing as you always have: ignoring the obvious. One person can only lead another to the truth; you can't force someone to accept it.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you could just quote the sentence that proves me wrong. I'm too lazy to wade through all that literature. It's like a novel!

Bob Ellis said...

I guess we're done with this exchange, then.

Goodnight!

Anonymous said...

Right on cue for your sudden exit!

When you can quote some evidence as I did, you let me know pal!

Anonymous said...

“While the Health 24 article suggested that homosexuals may be pushed to substance abuse and suicide because of anti-homosexual cultural and family pressures, empirical tests have shown that there is no difference in homosexual health risk depending on the level of tolerance in a particular environment.” - LifeSiteNews

Anonymous said...

Thank you for PROVING me wrong, Dr. Theo. I respectfully withdraw my first post.

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