THE MEANING OF LOVE IN SEXUAL MINORITY GROUPS

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THE MEANING OF LOVE IN SEXUAL MINORITY GROUPS

• Reidar Kjaer MD Psychiatrist
• Oslo Norway
• rekjaer_at_online.no

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MEANING OF LOVE

• OUTSIDE REACH OF HUMAN THOUGHT
• SCIENCE HAS FAILED
• ART?
• YES, but no time here..

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• AGENDA WPA 15.MARCH 2005
• Skinner-box solution
• A INPUT WHAT INTERFERES?
• B OUTPUT WHAT COMES OUT?
• C PSYCHIATRIST

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• AGENDA WPA 15.MARCH 2005
• Skinner-box solution
• A INPUT WHAT INTERFERES?
• B OUTPUT WHAT COMES OUT?
• C PSYCHIATRIST

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• THE LOVE THAT DARE NOT SPEAK ITS NAME
• 
  Oscar Wilde
• First minority group Homosexuality
• Second minority group HIV Gay Men

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Concept of Stigma

• Greece classical
• Burnt mark in the skin traitors thieves
• Early Christian culture
• Blood marks Christs crucifixion
• Today
• Discreditng attitudes towards other human beings
  who are different.
• Leads to discrimination.

E. Goffman 1963
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Stigma because of

• Race, nation and religion
• Bodily faults , some illnesses
• Wrong with the moral character of the indiviudal
• 
  HOMOSEXUALITY
• 
  HIV / AIDS

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HIV AIDS STIGMA RANKING LIST

• Victims
• Babies
• Patiens Bleeders, surgical,
  tranfusions
• Doctors / nurses
• Victims of rape, violence
• Moral weekness
• Heterosexuals
• Drug addicts
• Homosexuals

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Stigma

• Stereotypes
• Prejudice
• Discrimination

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Stereotypes

• Structures or meanings we have of other human
  beings
• EX People with hiv are facing big health care
• challenges
• Stereotypes can be effective in saying
  something about the individual.
• EX Jack has hiv so he have to spend a lot of
  time
• taking care of his health.

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Prejudice

• You believe in a negative stereotype and get an
  emotional relationship to the attitude
• EX People with hiv are careless about hygiene
  and the
• health of other people.
• Jack has hiv and I dont like to use the
  bathroom
• after him

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Discrimination

• You discriminate when you act because of your
  prejudice
• EX Hiv people should not be allowed to use
  public bathrooms.

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Prejudice

• Familiarity
• Education
• Contact Programs
• Corrigan, 2001

Discrimination
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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• Homophobia
• Public

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• Homophobia
• Public
• Medical system
• Expression of negative attitudes

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Negative attitudes to be found among mental
health workers Health riske due to
homosexuality pr se. Homosexuality is a mental
illness Suggest treatment to change sexual
orientation Religious expressions a sin, an
abomination,
against nature Political expressions a
decadent lifestyle,
un-national, egoistic.
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(Ryan, Futtermann 1998)
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AND THEN YOU GET HIV..
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(Ryan, Futtermann 1998)
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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• AGENDA WPA 15.MARCH 2005
• Skinner-box solution
• A INPUT WHAT INTERFERES?
• B OUTPUT WHAT COMES OUT?
• C PSYCHIATRIST

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Self Stigmatization
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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• Self stigmatization
• Internalization of negative societal attitudes
  towards the two minority groups
• Internalized homophobia
• Internalized hiv-phobia / aids-phobia

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• From Being to Having an illness
• You ARE the most stigmatized illnesses
• those caused by moral
  weekness.
• From being schizophrenic
• to having schizophrenia
• From being hiv
• to having hiv

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• Not everything about a person is said by the
  diagnoses
• Not everything that builds up the self image can
  be said by the diagnoses

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• Consequences of self stigmatization
• Underscorer, will never succeed
• Singel, relationship will not last
• Self hatedepression
• Suicidal ideationsuicidality
• Alcoholdrugs
• Violence towards partner
• Unsafe sex hasardious, risque behaviour

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• AGENDA WPA 15.MARCH 2005
• Skinner-box solution
• A INPUT WHAT INTERFERES?
• B OUTPUT WHAT COMES OUT?
• C PSYCHIATRIST

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• PSYCHIATRIST
• Awareness of time.
• Pre 1996
• Carpe Diem
• Post 1996
• Lazarus syndrome
• Life expectancy increased

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• With Life as a possibility
• comes longing for Love
• Hiv gay men wants to love,
• wants a partner, a lover

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• Disclosure or not?
• Patients, hiv gay men seem afraid of these
  topics
• 1 others finding out
• 2 own health
• 3 not infecting others
• 
  

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• From REJECTION To ACCEPT by
• Self
• Partner
• Friends
• Family
• And Psychiatrist

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• TALKING ABOUT SEXUALITY
• Difficult for Psychiatrists (?)
• WPA SECTION OF HUMAN SEXUALITY TRIES TO MEND SOME
  OF THESE SHORTCOMINGS

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• TALKING ABOUT SEXUALITY
• in the TOWER OF BABEL
• DIFFICULT FOR all
• PATIENTS HIV Gay Men
• PSYCHIATRISTS

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• TALKING ABOUT SEXUALITY
• Cultural factors
• Victorianism
• Religion
• Politics
• Personal
• Belonging or afraid of belonging
• to stigmatized minority group(s)

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• CLINICAL CHALLENGES
• PREJUDICE Myths in society
• DENIAL INVISIBILITY
• I have no gay patients

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Invisibility No awareness No existence No
recognition No plans and no support
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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• CLINICAL CHALLENGES
• PREJUDICE Myths in society
• DENIAL INVISIBILITY
• I have no gay patients
• OVEREMPHAZISE
• Everything by the person is
  explained by the
• diagnosis and the double
  minority status
• The person IS his diagnosis
• All or nothing attitude
• Blind Spot?

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• PSYCHIATRIST
• See
• Accept
• Informed knowledge
• Work with own attitudes (Status)

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups

• Psychiatrist help foster
• Responsibility
• Self
  Others
• Love
  

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MEANING OF LOVE in Sexual Minority Groups?

• And all men kill the thing they love,
• By all let this be heard,
• Some do it with a bitter look,
• Some with a flattering word,
• The coward does it with a kiss
• The brave man with a sword!
• 
  (Oscar Wilde)