Food for Thought: Queer mental health, and the evolution of queer health care (Adrian Apollo)

 

Queer health care has developed tremendously over the years. What we have access to now could only be dreamed of by some queer folks back in the past. It's obvious that the AIDS crisis did numbers to affect the state of queer healthcare. It was evident that a lack of resources, education, and support was present for this time period, and the public struggle of queer folks aided in organizations being formed to aid those in crisis. An increase in organizations to support the healthcare of lesbians was evident. The Lesbian Research Network was the first organization to conduct a survey relating to lesbian health in the 80's. This led to developments such as the Institute of Medicine releasing a report on lesbian health. Organizations such as the Mautner Project aided in accessing health care for lesbians during 1999. These are all incredibly important milestones, as well as challenges to the social design of American society. Without these resources, lesbians would not feel safe to seek any medical attention, as a result of bad experiences with medical professionals. The stress and anxiety that came with seeking this help and risking disownment from families meant there was an increase in behaviors of self harm, self medication, or self soothing with drugs and alcohol. With the creation of safe spaces to gain resources and aid, lesbians were able to seek help and live better lives. 

We saw in past chapters how the term homosexual came to be taken off the DSM as a mental illness. This development was crucial, as it aided greatly in queer folks receiving the appropriate healthcare and aid. This also aided in gender identity disorder to be recognized as something queer people struggled with and needed care for. Treatment around this however, also led to complications and issues. Some viewed this as a disorder that needed a cure such as electro shock therapy. To receive affirming care for a gender identity disorder is one thing, but many still could not understand that there is no cure for queerness, and there need not be an investigation into finding one. Being queer is not a crime, it does not need to be fixed, it is normal and those who are queer live fulfilling lives. Studies were conducted in order to gauge how at risk queer people are when it came to diminished mental health. It was proven that queer people are at risk for depression, suicide, and substance abuse as a result of hostile homophobic or transphobic environments. Studies and surveys challenged the societal erasure of the plight of queer and trans people. With exposure, queer people were able to seek appropriate aid and combat these statistics directly.