Study: Differences in Mental Health Symptoms Between LGBQ and Heterosexuals

A new study exploring the prevalence of mental health symptoms in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and questioning (LGBQ) community, found that the often overlooked questioning and bisexual youth face their own significant challenges, particularly when it comes to depression, anxiety and traumatic distress. Drexel’s Department of Couple and Family Therapy published their findings in the Journal of Adolescent Health under the title, “Difference in Mental Health Symptoms Across Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Questioning Youth in Primary Care Settings.” On the male side of the study, gay and bisexual respondents displayed significantly higher scores for depression and traumatic stress. Gay males also scored significantly higher for anxiety than heterosexual males. Bisexual males trended higher than heterosexual males for anxiety, but only slightly. Their lifetime suicide ideation scores were significantly higher than heterosexual males, however. The team believes that its study demonstrates a clear need for medical providers and researchers to be sensitive to differences across the LGBQ community without lumping them all together. While a general risk of mental health issues remains for the entire community, it would be best to stay mindful of certain groups’ susceptibility to particular issues. (OutNewsUk)


Men Who Ejaculate Often May Have a Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer

Men who ejaculate often may have a lower risk of prostate cancer than their peers who don’t do it as frequently, a U.S. study suggests. Researchers followed about 32,000 men starting in 1992 when they were in their 20s and continuing through 2010. During this period, almost 4,000 of the men were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Men who ejaculated at least 21 times a month in their 20s were 19 percent less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer than men who ejaculated no more than seven times a month, the study found. Men who ejaculated more often in their 40s were 22 percent less likely to get a prostate cancer diagnosis. “Ejaculation frequency is, to some extent, a measure of overall health status in that men at the very low end of ejaculation – 0 to 3 times per month – were more likely to have other (medical problems) and die prematurely from causes other than prostate cancer,” said lead study author Jennifer Rider, who did the analysis while working at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. (Reuters Health)


Online: Reading Profiles or Reading Into Them?

A profile is your personal advertisement, a way of providing information about you, titillating others and hopefully generating interest in making contact. What is important to understand is that profiles can be read, but they can also be read into; in other words, the reader interprets what you have written completely different from what you intended. For example, a 55 year old man has a profile that includes photos himself in various activities (nothing nude or sexually suggestive) and the profile text describes his interests and hobbies and his hope in finding a suitable long term companion. However, he often receives replies that leave him scratching his head and wondering if people actually even bother to read the profile. He revisits his profile, goes over the text and photos he has used, but can’t find anything that would logically explain these out-from-left-field responses. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much that he can do — people sometimes see what they want to see. Psychology uses the term “selective attention” to describe how the brain — bombarded with information — makes selections that fit what we want to see and discards the rest. If you have ever watched a magician perform a slight of hand, that is an example of selective attention — the brain interprets the actions in a specific way. It is always worth the effort to set up your profile carefully and ensure you are advertising for what you really want. But if you sometimes get replies that leave you wondering, relax. It’s just other guys indulging in some wishful thinking. (GuideforGayMen)