BMJ 2001;322:111 ( 13 January )

Letters

Psychiatric disorders and risky sexual behaviour

    Paper did not mention sexual orientation
    Risky sexual behaviour is part of two disorders examined

Paper did not mention sexual orientation

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---The paper by Ramrakha et al on risky sexual behaviour in young adults did not mention sexual orientation.1 It met its stated objective but would have had a much greater impact if it had included a discussion of sexual orientation.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents face tremendous challenges growing up in a culture that is almost uniformly antihomosexual. They face an increased risk of medical and psychosocial problems that are not caused by their sexual orientation but by society's negative reaction to it. In response to the external pressure and isolation they often face, lesbian and gay young people are more vulnerable than others to psychosocial problems including substance abuse, depression, failure at school, early relationship conflicts, and homelessness. They are three times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual young people. One in four young adults living on the streets of the United States identify themselves as . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Psychiatric disorders and risky sexual behaviour in young adulthood: cross sectional study in birth cohort
Sandhya Ramrakha, Avshalom Caspi, Nigel Dickson, Terrie E Moffitt, and Charlotte Paul
BMJ 2000 321: 263-266. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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