Posted on 03/20/2008 4:53:15 AM PDT by Loyalist
A new study says the use of the health care system in Canada -- and mental health services in particular -- differs by sexual orientation.
A report published yesterday by Statistics Canada sought to answer whether sexual identity had anything to do with having a regular doctor, consulting health care providers, taking preventive screening tests and having any unmet medical needs.
It found that gay men were much more likely than heterosexual men to have consulted a doctor or medical specialist in the year prior to the survey.
Among women, lesbians were less likely than heterosexual women to have seen a family doctor in the year prior to the survey or to have undergone a pap test in the three previous years.
The study also determined that gay men, lesbians, bisexual men and women were more likely to access mental health services than heterosexuals. They had more frequent contact with counsellors, social workers and psychologists and were more likely to report attending self-help groups.
"It might be more acceptable to use those services in those populations, but our data didn't speak to the reasons," said the study's author, Michael Tjepkema.
Relatively large proportions of bisexuals reported mental health problems, the study noted. Bisexual men were more than twice as likely as heterosexual men to perceive their mental health as fair or poor, and for bisexual women the proportion reporting fair or poor mental health was three times that of heterosexual women, the findings showed.
Cherie MacLeod, executive director of PFLAGCanada, a support and education organization, was not surprised by the findings on mental health.
"It is well known that there's increased depression in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community because of dealing with widespread societal homophobia and transphobia," she said. "The fact that our community is looking to obtain these services is not surprising at all."
STDs and HIV tend to do that.
Smart thing to do.
And cancer patients do this also.
Nothing to do with how intrinsically sick and messed up these people tend to be.
Maybe the UK should declare their lifestyles to be unhealthy and deny them health care.
(yeah, sure, that'll happen)
Seems to be a constant losing mental battle with that society as the part never really match up with the results being psychological meltdown.
Perhaps we should have "homosexual free zones", and tax them out of existance, like smokers.
Ooops ... I'm sorry ... I forgot ... homosexuality isn't a health risk.
Did you hear about the homosexual man with alzheimer’s? He couldn’t remember why his ass was sore!
You hear about the homosexual man who was constipated? He went to his doctor, who suggested mild laxatives and fibre for his diet, to no avail. Three weeks later, the doctor referred his light-in-the-loafers patient to a proctologist, who of course conducted an examination of his rectum and colon.
During the course of the examination, the proctologist exclaims “my gawd, no wonder you’re constipated, somebody shoved a dozen roses up there!!!”
Tooty-Fruity giggles in glee and says “oh forget the roses, what’s the CARD say!?!?!?”
They must really like those prostate exams.
“It is well known that there’s increased depression in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community because of dealing with widespread societal homophobia and transphobia,”
Um hmm, yup, right. All those mean, nasty “breeders” going around beating up, rounding up, shooting and gassing gay people. Right.
Tra-la-la-la-la! (skipping down the sidewalk) Off to get a prostate exam.....
If they wouldn’t shove their lifestyle in our faces, they wouldn’t face the backlash and rejection.
If what they do in the bedroom is private and nobody else’s business, they should keep it that way. I’m not interested in hearing it.
I wonder who is screaming the loudest for free health care.
Repeat business?
Sorry didn't mean to missundertake you. ;-)
It’s the trans-fats from McDonald’s.
Hey doc ... I need a prostate examination.
Aint nothing gay about one man sodomizing another. But that aside, fear of aids, Gomorrah, syphilis, etc, etc, would be a good answer.
Yep, one thing that won’t ever be denied due to its costly effect on the national healthcare system will be HIV/AIDS.
The other is abortion on demand.
(See why I say the only “freedom” that the left supports is the freedom from consequences of sticking your jubblies in anything you damn well feel like?)
No this has been reported for decades. I remember reading about it just after GRID (later called AIDS) was recognized. Homosexual men (MSM) as a group are an immune compromised population. They get more infections than people who don’t engage in that behavior.
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