For God's Sake

 

The Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Assessment

Possible responses from lesbians and gay men are listed below.

 

Biological:

HIV, STDs, aging, physical effects of oppression as per the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study or ACES (Andersen & Blosnich, 2013).

Physical problems resulting from excessive or long-standing substance use.  

 

Psychological:

Suicidality, especially among youth (i.e., Gibbs, 2015).

Anxiety, obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors, hyper-vigilance, trauma and post-traumatic stress. 

Depression (i.e., Levy & Reeves, 2011).

Active substance use, poor self-esteem, social isolation, and fear.

Depersonalization, self-hatred, unresolved grief and loss.

Internalized homophobia (Halkitis et al., 2009).

 

Social Environment:

Conflict with family of origin, friends, children, school, community and peer group.

Lack of support systems and financial problems.

Bifurcation of work or school and private identities (Bowland et al., 2013).

 

Social Intersectionality:

Gay (oppressed) and white (privileged) male (privileged).

Gay (oppressed) and white (privileged) female (oppressed).

Gay (oppressed) and female (oppressed) of color (oppressed).

Gay (oppressed) and male (privileged) of color (oppressed).

Gay(oppressed) and aging (oppressed or privileged).

Gay (oppressed) and immigrant (oppressed).  

 

Religious/Spiritual: 

God abandoned me. I left God.

I've changed religious or spiritual beliefs.

I've abandoned organized religion, and I am now more spiritual.

I have no religion.

I still belong to the church I was raised in, but I hide my sexuality to avoid rejection or condemnation.      

I am part of a gay-affirming or gay-centric church, synagogue or mosque (Hattie & Beagan 2013).