LGBTQIA++ लोगों को मेंटल इलनेस से कैसे उबारा जाए ?

A community and a health issue of concern

 एक समुदाय और स्वास्थ्य मुद्दा की चिंता

The mental illnesses and challenges that India’s LGBTQIA++ people face need comprehensive and long-term solutions

भारत के LGBTQIA++ लोगों को जिन मानसिक बीमारियों और चुनौतियों का सामना करना पड़ता है, उन्हें व्यापक और दीर्घकालिक समाधान की आवश्यकता है

08/07/2022 

During the recent celebration of Pride month (June) 

globally and in India, we witnessed an incredible social media presence filled with 

💐striking images 

💐and stories.

 It would not have been amiss to also pause and reflect momentarily on the state of mental health of LGBTQIA++ communities in India.

 भारत में LGBTQIA++ समुदायों के मानसिक स्वास्थ्य की स्थिति पर क्षण भर के लिए विराम देना और प्रतिबिंबित करना गलत नहीं होता। 

The reflection would undoubtedly have been a sobering one.प्रतिबिंब निस्संदेह एक गंभीर रहा होगा।

life-long mental illnesses and challenges

💐Despite the reading down खत्म of Section 377,

💐 the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgment as also successive progressive movements, 

💐India’s class, caste and regionally diverse LGBTQIA++ communities remain at risk of life-long mental illnesses and challenges. 

💐This can take the form of severe mental illness or transient and long standing dysfunctional harmful behaviours

.यह गंभीर मानसिक बीमारी या क्षणिक और लंबे समय तक चलने वाले दुष्क्रियात्मक हानिकारक व्यवहारों का रूप ले सकता है।

Stigma and suffering

Why? 

क्या क्या फील करते है ?

1 This is caused by life-long 

💐dissonance मतभेद ,

 💐deep-rooted stigma,

 💐discrimination and

💐 often abuse, that the community experiences.

2  It often leads to

💐extreme distress

💐 and poor self-worth,

💐 resulting in self-hate and suffering.

3  The community is often fearful and

 has such deeply internalised stigma that it is challenging to even articulate what it feels like — forget about seeking help.

समुदाय अक्सर भयभीत रहता है और उसके पास इतना गहरा आंतरिक कलंक होता है कि वह जो महसूस करता है उसे व्यक्त करना भी चुनौतीपूर्ण होता है - मदद मांगने के बारे में भूल जाओ।

4 While the mental health needs उनको क्या बात माइंड में रखना होगा ? 

💐of the LGBTQIA++ communities are not different from others, 

💐their identities, social contexts and the discrimination give them stressors that impact their mental health, 

💐relentlessly, from a young age.

5  Sexual orientation and gender identity 

क्या चर्चा होती है ?

💐are rarely discussed in our social, educational or familial environments, 

💐and if ever done, these discussions are stigmatising कलंक लगाना . 

6-समाज ने क्या किया ?

Society marginalises LGBTQIA++ people throughout life, no matter how accomplished they may be. This is payment extracted by a heteronormative society that demands assimilation .

समाज जीवन भर LGBTQIA++ लोगों को हाशिए पर रखता है,

 चाहे वे कितने भी निपुण क्यों न हों। यह एक विषम मानकवादी समाज द्वारा निकाला गया भुगतान है, जो आत्मसात करने की मांग करता है।

In such an environment, 

1 it is hard to come out to yourself; forget the others. 

2 Even within the LGBTQIA++ communities, the lines are easily fractured by caste, class, and, more recently, by religious affiliation. कुछ बातों ने और भी मुश्किल कर दिया है।

3  It is difficult to find friends and family who understand what the person feels.

4 If they are able to cope with this, there is the constant othering किसी से अलग दिखना और अपने आप को एलाइन कर लेना . 

5 दूसरों के ऊपर प्रभाव ?

The life one leads and lived experiences have little or no overlap with those around oneself. 

6 In every sense, the person remains an outsider. 

7 If a person’s gender identity is different from the sex assigned to them at birth, this conflict and othering अलगाव की भावना  is extreme. 

7 The person feels trapped and conflicted, that feeds their gender dysphoria.

This relentless dissonance and othering can result सबका रिजल्ट क्या निकला ?

1 💐  in internalised homophobia, 

💐often leading to anxiety, 

💐loneliness and 

💐substance use.

2  It is not surprising then, that LGBTQIA++ youth are likely to suffer 1.75 times more anxiety and depression than the rest of society 

3 while the transgender community is even more vulnerable as its members suffer 2.4 times higher anxiety and depression.

भारत में क्या सोच जाता है ?

1 In India and elsewhere, from an early age, everyone is pressured, openly or structurally, into accepting gender roles and sexual identities. भारत और अन्य जगहों पर, कम उम्र से ही, हर किसी पर खुले तौर पर या संरचनात्मक रूप से, लैंगिक भूमिकाओं और यौन पहचानों को स्वीकार करने के लिए दबाव डाला जाता है। 

2 Those who do not comply are bullied, abused, and assaulted under the pretence of correcting them.

kजो लोग अनुपालन नहीं करते हैं, उन्हें सही करने के बहाने धमकाया जाता है, गाली दी जाती हैऔर मारपीट की जाती है।

Inadequate health services

1 When help is sought even by the most empowered, queer विचित्र affirmative mental health services are hardly available. 

2 A large majority of the psychiatrists in India still consider diverse sexual orientations 

and gender identities as a disorder and practice ‘correctional therapy’.

3  This is also true of general health care as well. 

In an ongoing study, the Raahat Project found : 

💐that a large number of trans and gay men preferred to pay and seek help in the private sector.

💐 rather than access government health care due to harassment and stigma.

How then do we build communities that sustain the good mental health of LGBTQIA++ communities?

1  What we need is a national focus on LGBTQIA++ mental health that has become further acerbated by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

2 We need comprehensive long-term solutions 

💐that make queer mental health a priority and 

💐address community needs

💐 but also engage everyone to change the environment in which they exist. 

3 These solutions must engage with 

💐all stakeholders,

💐 including educational institutions,

💐 communities,

💐 health-care providers, 

💐mental health professionals,

💐 police personnel and 

💐families who are often a key source of mental health stress. 

💐This is not easy as this is not a priority for the Government and funding agencies, and is also neglected in society.

Awareness and other steps

One way to change the status quo is to ensure that

1  every aspect of mental health work in India must include 

💐aspects of queer mental health issues, 

💐especially in schools and

💐 universities, to destigmatise diverse gender and sexual identities. 

2 A key aspect is building self-care skills among queer adolescents and youth.

3  Strong components of 

💐behaviour change and 

💐awareness and 

💐also building capacity are important ways to build agency among these youth populations.

4  What we need is a movement on queer mental health guided by 

💐non-discrimination and 

💐public awareness in order to change social attitudes.

5 Community building is an important part of improving the mental health for LGBTQIA++ people. 

6 We need to create supportive, safe and educative spaces, access points for health care and information on mental health.

 One such project that the Raahat Project has been working on 

💐through participatory methods 

💐has opened a host of issues that LGBTQIA++ communities face in leading colleges on an ongoing basis. 

The challenge is on how to address these issues in a holistic way when institutions are so queerphobic.

In the end, ignoring the mental health needs of LGBTQIA++ communities comes at a 

💐great cost to them and to society.

💐 Without addressing both the preventive and support aspects of the mental health of LGBTQIA++ 

people we will compound an already neglected problem of mental illness 

💐that will be hard to handle in the future. 

This would not just be injustice, but also a crisis created by deliberate neglect .

Chapal Mehra 

is a public health specialist and Director, The Raahat Project

सोर्स द हिन्दू