Study finds bisexuals have higher risk of developing mental health issues because of biphobia

A new study from American University has correlated higher rates of mental health issues in the bisexual community with higher rates of discrimination. The study, which analysed data from 503 participants aged 18 to 64 who identified as being attracted to more than one gender, found that the risk of experiencing anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts is exacerbated because bisexuals feel they don’t belong to either the queer community or with straight people.

Lead study author, Ethan Mereish, explains: “Bisexual people face double discrimination in multiple settings — bisexual people are often invisible, rejected, invalidated, [and] stigmatised in the heterosexual community as well as the traditional LGBTQ communities.

“Given that isolation and discrimination, bi people might be experiencing increase factors that might make them more lonely or isolated.”

The report found that while LGBT+ people have a much wider plethora of support to draw from, in studies and healthcare, bisexuals often do not, and are left forgotten about. This has a negative impact on their mental health.

The study concludes: "This research highlights the unique stress experiences of bisexual individuals, with implications for addressing bisexual-specific stress in clinical settings as well as designing preventive interventions that increase access to bisexual-specific support and resources.

"Bisexual-specific experiences must be considered independently from the experiences of other sexual minority subgroups to address sexual orientation disparities in mental health."

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