Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Medical overview
- 2 Cognitive disorders in people living with HIV disease
- 3 General principles of pharmacotherapy for the patient with HIV infection
- 4 Mood disorders and psychosis in HIV
- 5 Suicidal behavior and HIV infection
- 6 Anxiety disorders and HIV disease
- 7 General issues in hospital HIV psychiatry
- 8 HIV and people with serious and persistent mental illness
- 9 Psychotherapy
- 10 HIV and substance use disorders
- 11 Psychiatric issues in pediatric HIV/AIDS
- 12 Uninfected children of parents with HIV
- 13 Psychological issues faced by gay men
- 14 Women and HIV
- 15 Couples
- 16A HIV and cultural diversity
- 16B African Americans
- 16C Latinos and HIV disease
- 16D One heart, two spirit, and beyond: HIV and the people of the First Nations
- 17 HIV in prison populations
- 18 Legal and ethical issues
- 19 Psychiatrist as caregiver
- Appendix I HIV Counselling checklist for physicians
- Index
- References
13 - Psychological issues faced by gay men
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 Medical overview
- 2 Cognitive disorders in people living with HIV disease
- 3 General principles of pharmacotherapy for the patient with HIV infection
- 4 Mood disorders and psychosis in HIV
- 5 Suicidal behavior and HIV infection
- 6 Anxiety disorders and HIV disease
- 7 General issues in hospital HIV psychiatry
- 8 HIV and people with serious and persistent mental illness
- 9 Psychotherapy
- 10 HIV and substance use disorders
- 11 Psychiatric issues in pediatric HIV/AIDS
- 12 Uninfected children of parents with HIV
- 13 Psychological issues faced by gay men
- 14 Women and HIV
- 15 Couples
- 16A HIV and cultural diversity
- 16B African Americans
- 16C Latinos and HIV disease
- 16D One heart, two spirit, and beyond: HIV and the people of the First Nations
- 17 HIV in prison populations
- 18 Legal and ethical issues
- 19 Psychiatrist as caregiver
- Appendix I HIV Counselling checklist for physicians
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
In Western culture, many of those with HIV infection are gay men. To help psychiatrists better understand the psychological context of their gay patients, this chapter:
reviews historical and contemporary theories of gay male development, discusses psychoanalytic theory of male homosexuality, presents a critique of certain aspects of more traditional psychodynamic theory, and discusses newer theories
describes the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity
discusses the impact of growing up gay on psychological development, paying particular attention to: poor self-esteem and internalized homophobia, and their relationship to shame and widespread inhibition; the impairment of normal relational development and the splitting off of sexuality from relationships; the particular importance of adolescence in gay male development; and the palliative effects of new opportunities that arise for many gay men during adult development.
Review of psychoanalytic theory
Throughout his career, Freud thought and wrote about male homosexuality (e.g., Freud, 1905, 1922, 1935), exploring the topic from a number of different perspectives. He saw homosexuality as reflecting arrested psychosexual development in the context of the constitutional bisexuality of all humans, and thus as somewhat pathological. Freud also conflated the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity (discussed at greater length below). However, his attitude remained humane and measured.
Subsequent psychoanalytic thinkers, culminating with many active in the USA after the Second World War, such as Irving Bieber (1962) and Charles Socarides (1968, 1978), assumed increasingly homophobic stances.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- HIV and PsychiatryTraining and Resource Manual, pp. 204 - 216Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005