- A new study found that when lesbian, gay, or bisexual people encounter homophobic prejudice, it creates significant physiological stress.
- During such interactions, LGBT people produce an increased level of cortisol, the stress hormone.
- Past research has shown that adaptive elevations in heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol production can accumulate over time.
- This accumulation can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, and even earlier death.
Exposure to harassment, discrimination, and violence due to one’s sexual orientation or gender identity can cause severe damage to a person’s overall quality of life, relationship to others, even livelihood.
In recent years, research has pointed to the roles violent crime, discrimination in the workplace and at home, and lower socioeconomic status can have on the lives of LGBTQIA+ people, to name a few examples.
What about the effects on a person’s overall health and stress levels?
New research in the journal Health Psychology zeroes in on how damaging sustained exposure to homophobic attitudes and behaviors can be on a person’s stress levels.
The new study suggests that this can have a potential negative domino effect on that person’s health, leading to other serious chronic health problems for lesbian, gay, or bisexual people.
Source: healthline