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Mental Health

What is Mental Health?

Mental health is your emotional, psychological, and social well-being which affects how we feel, think, and act. Good mental health does NOT mean we always feel happy and confident and not experience anger and sadness. It means we deal with stress well, work productively, and maintain healthy relationships. On the flip side, mental health problems affect our mood, behavior, and thinking negatively.

What Affects Our Mental Health?

There are various factors that affect our mental health: 

  • Biological: genes, brain chemistry

  • Psychological: trauma, life experiences

  • Social: societal norms, peer relationships, family dynamics

These factors can impact an individual to be more predisposed to poor mental health which may manifest into a mental illness.

Mental Health vs. Mental Illness

  • Mental health: “our emotional, psychological, and social well-being”

  • Mental illness: “conditions that affect a person’s thinking, feeling, mood or behavior”

 

Oftentimes, when people hear the term “mental health”, they tend to think about it negatively. This is because mental health and mental illness are often used interchangeably. However, they are not the same thing. Mental health is just as important as your physical health. Depression is a mental illness that negatively affects your mental health like cancer would to your physical health. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness will not always have poor mental health.

What Do I Do If My Mental Health is Declining?

  • Reach out for help in your support system whether it is through family or friends

  • Consult a professional to get a proper diagnostic and treatments

  • Avoid self-diagnosing

It is okay to reach out for help whether it is through family or friends or through professionals. Receiving help means taking the right steps to better mental health! We’ll now dive into how different aspects of sex influence our mental health through various lenses and how to manage your mental health!

Have you ever thought about how your relationships whether with friends or with a boyfriend/girlfriend affects your mental health? In this video, we will be discussing some issues that may arise in a relationship to watch out for because they may affect your mental health in unhealthy ways. We’ll first discuss some toxic behaviors to recognize in a relationship. Then, we will talk about pressure from peers to engage in certain activities as well as pressure from the person you’re in a relationship with to do something you haven’t fully consented to. Next, substance use, such as drugs and alcohol, can influence someone to cross boundaries in a relationship. Finally, sex shaming or the judgement from others on someone’s sexual activities can be detrimental to one’s mental health. As we go discuss each of these topics, we want you to reflect on where you may have seen this in your personal life or in your friend’s life, and think about what behaviors can hurt someone’s mental health.

LGBTQ+, Same-Sex Attraction, and Mental Health

FYI: LGBTQ+ → Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer + (more)

Mental Health

LGBTQ+ people face discrimination on a daily basis such as being banned from showing affection in public and not being allowed to legally get married (in other countries). Additionally, LGBTQ+ people have to go through the process of accepting themselves and coming out. This can be mentally draining as it is a constant battle in their heads of self-denial, hiding their true self, and living with the fear that society is against them as well as their family and friends not accepting them for years. This is why statistically, those who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to experience mental illnesses.

 

Coming out: the process of being public about your LGBTQ+ sexual orientation. One of the biggest challenges that someone faces when coming out is internalized homophobia. This is the feeling of self-hatred due to negative ideas about LGBTQ+ identities. It leads to self-denial and manifests into homophobia towards others who identify as LGBTQ+.

 

Parent acceptance: Parents with strong religious faith, are people of color, and/or immigrants are less likely to be accepting if their child identifies as LGBTQ+. Negative consequences can include being kicked out of their home, severing family ties, and abuse/neglect. If you identify as LGBTQ+, evaluate how safe you are with your family before coming out to them. If you need guidance on this, reach out to a trusted adult.

 

Peer Relationships: One of the first people LGBTQ+ folks often come out to is their peers. However, peers can be negatively affecting their mental health in various ways. Reflect on whether you have done something similar to the statements below, and how you can better support your LGBTQ+ identifying peers. Keep in mind that it’s not just words, but also actions.

  • Being openly homophobic: “Gay people are disgusting”

  • Being subtlely homophobic: “Why did they add gay romance to this show?”

  • Using harmful language that have negative connotations surrounding being gay: “That was so gay” 


If you identify as LGBTQ+, you are deserving of the same love as those who identify as cisgender and straight.

Sex as a Coping Mechanism/Dependencies

Sex may be seen as something to measure how worthy you are or how much you are loved. This can lead to people using sex as a coping mechanism and partaking in sexual activities for unhealthy reasons. In a time when “hooking up” or casual sex is common, you may feel that you’re expected to have pride in it while not getting attached. If you get attached to the person you hook up with, you are “not valuing your self-worth.” This is a toxic behavior that only hurts yourself. Remember that sex ≠ love, and that depending on sex to see your worth is an unhealthy behavior. Sex, when done safely, is a healthy activity. But if you are using sex as your sole coping mechanism, it can lead to negative thoughts about your self-worth and hurt your mental health.

Sex as a coping mechanism infographic.pn

Body Image

The “ideal beauty standard” changes from time to time, depending on what the trend is. Certain body types may be considered to be more desirable, for example, a macho man or a woman with an hourglass figure. These trends are significantly influenced by the media (e.g. movies, celebrities, pornography). Body image issues, such as comparing your boob or dick size, may stem from pornographic influences. Celebrities and influencers have the “ideal look,” but it’s important to recognize that it comes from privilege. Money, photoshop, and lack of transparency about procedures done can lead people, especially younger folks, to compare their body to something that is realistically unattainable. At a time where technology pervades every part of life, social media warps our perception of body image and social expectations. Social media is where people tend to only post the best pictures of themselves. It can involve filters, facetune, and other methods to alter the original picture. Whatever body type you have, remember that you are beautiful and perfect the way you are!

Body Image Infographic.png
Instagram Reality Picture.png

Notice the barely noticeable photoshop that distorts both their bodies to look thinner.

Reflection Questions

  • What do you do to destress?

  • If you encounter someone with toxic behaviors, how would you navigate the situation?

  • How have you positively created a space for LGBTQ+ people to feel safe?

  • What are healthier coping mechanisms instead of sex and someone else’s attention?

  • How can social media be used to promote acceptance of all different body types?

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