Bisexual Men Who Keep Orientation a Secret Likely Experience Depression

Why are bisexual men more likely to experience mental health issues than gay men? A study attempted to get to the bottom of this question, with fascinating results.

The study looked at the mental health of more than 200 bisexual men living in New York City.

Each of these men was in a significant committed relationship with a woman, yet secretly had sex with at least one man over the previous year.

In other words, the study looked at bisexually identified men who kept their bisexual orientation secret.

“This depression comes from men feeling the need

to hide their orientation from their partners.”

Previous studies found bisexual men were considerably more likely to suffer from depression than gay men, and this new research suggests this depression comes from men feeling the need to hide their orientation from their partners.

Supporting this theory, the study found men who revealed their bisexual orientation to a close friend but not to their partner experienced the same levels of depression as bisexual men who remained closeted from everyone in their life.

Study researcher Eric Schrimshaw summarized his findings by stating:

“Trying to maintain constant vigilance and thinking ‘Will someone find out?’ and ‘What would happen if someone knew?’ appears to be a stressor that adversely affects these men. Our primary goal should be working with these men to help them feel more comfortable with their identity so that they are less concerned about who might find out and dealing with concealment concerns.”

Source: usnews.com.