Abstract
A significant body of scholarship has examined the ways in which lesbian, gay, and transgender identities are taken up in the discipline of psychiatry; however, this work has largely not attended to bisexual identities. This chapter addresses this research gap through a content analysis of chart documentation for twelve bisexual individuals who accessed mental health care in a psychiatric hospital, examining where, when, and how bisexuality was documented in the psychiatric record. In doing so, we highlight how common social constructions of bisexuality (e.g., as a state of confusion, as invisible) are reinforced by the institution of psychiatry, as well as how meaningful attention to bisexuality (or in contrast, inattention) may contribute to the patient- and practitioner-defined success of a psychiatric admission.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Buying options
References
Bostwick, W. B., & Harrison, E. A. (2020). Bisexual mental health. In E. D. Rothblum (Ed.), Oxford handbook of sexual and gender minority mental health (pp. 269–281). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190067991.013.25
Caldwell, K. (2010). We exist: Intersectional in/visibility in bisexuality and disability. Disability Studies Quarterly, 30(3/4). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v30i3/4.1273
Carr, S., & Spandler, H. (2019). Hidden from history? A brief modern history of the psychiatric “treatment” of lesbian and bisexual women in England. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(4), 289–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30059-8
Daley, A. (2013). Spaces in place: Negotiating queer in/visibility within psychiatric and mental health service settings. In B. A. Le Francois, R. Menzies, & G. Reaume (Eds.), Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian Mad Studies (pp. 298–308). Canadian Scholars’ Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12038
Daley, A., & Ross, L. E. (2018). Uncovering the heteronormative order of the psychiatric institution: A queer reading of chart documentation and language use. In J. M. Kilty & E. Dej (Eds.), Containing madness: Gender and “psy” in institutional contexts (pp. 169–189). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89749-3
DeVita, T., Bishop, C., & Plankey, M. (2018). Queering medical education: Systematically assessing LGBTQI health competency and implementing reform. Medical Education Online, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2018.1510703
Dodge, B., Herbenick, D., Friedman, M. R., Schick, V., Fu, T.-C., Bostwick, W., Bartelt, E., Muñoz-Laboy, M., Pletta, D., Reece, M., & Sandfort, T. G. M. (2016). Attitudes toward bisexual men and women among a nationally representative probability sample of adults in the United States. PLoS ONE, 11(10), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164430
Dyar, C., Feinstein, B. A., Stephens, J., Zimmerman, A. R., Newcomb, M. E., & Whitton, S. W. (2020). Nonmonosexual stress and dimensions of health: Within-group variation by sexual, gender, and racial/ethnic identities. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 7(1), 12–25. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000348
Eady, A., Dobinson, C., & Ross, L. E. (2011). Bisexual people’s experiences with mental health services: A qualitative investigation. Community Mental Health Journal, 47, 378–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-010-9329-x
Feinstein, B. A., Xavier Hall, C. D., Dyar, C., & Davila, J. (2020). Motivations for sexual identity concealment and their associations with mental health among bisexual, pansexual, queer, and fluid (bi+) individuals. Journal of Bisexuality, 20(3), 324–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299716.2020.1743402
Firestein, B. A. (Ed.). (2007). Becoming visible: Counseling bisexuals across the lifespan. Columbia University Press.
Hutchins, L., & Ka’ahumanu, L. (Eds.). (2010). Bi any other name: Bisexual people speak out. Alyson Books.
Israel, T., Choi, A. Y., Goodman, J. A., Matsuno, E., Lin, Y.-J., Kary, K. G., & Merrill, C. R. S. (2019). Reducing internalized binegativity: Development and efficacy of an online intervention. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 6(2), 149–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000314
Israel, T., & Mohr, J. J. (2004). Attitudes toward bisexual women and men: Current research, future directions. Journal of Bisexuality, 4(1–2), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1300/J159v04n01_09
Lambe, J., Cerezo, A., & O’Shaughnessy, T. (2017). Minority stress, community involvement, and mental health among bisexual women. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 4(2), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd000022
Lebenbaum, M., Chiu, M., Vigod, S., & Kurdyak, P. (2018). Prevalence and predictors of involuntary psychiatric hospital admissions in Ontario, Canada: A population-based linked administrative database study. British Journal of Psychiatry Open, 4(2), 31–38. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2017.4
LeFrançois, B. A., Menzies, R., & Reaume, G. (Eds.). (2013). Mad matters: A critical reader in Canadian Mad Studies. Canadian Scholars’ Press. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12038
Li, T., Dobinson, C., Scheim, A. I., & Ross, L. E. (2013). Unique issues bisexual people face in intimate relationships: A descriptive exploration of lived experience. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 17(1), 21–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2012.723607
Ochs, R., & Rowley, S. E. (Eds.). (2009). Getting bi: Voices of bisexuals around the world. Bisexual Resource Center.
Pilling, M. D. (2013). Invisible identity in the workplace: Intersectional madness and processes of disclosure at work. Disability Studies Quarterly, 33(1). https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v33i1.3424
Pilling, M. D. (2019). Changing directions or staying the course? Gender, sexuality, and recovery in Canada’s mental health strategy. In A. Daley, L. Costa, & P. Beresford (Eds.), Madness, violence, and power: A critical collection (pp. 97–114). University of Toronto Press. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442629981
Reaume, G. (2014). Understanding critical disability studies. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 186(16), 1248–1249. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.141236
Ross, L. E., Dobinson, C., & Eady, A. (2010). Perceived determinants of mental health for bisexual people: A qualitative examination. American Journal of Public Health, 100, 496–502. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.156307
Ross, L. E., Salway, T., Tarasoff, L. A., MacKay, J. M., Hawkins, B. W., & Fehr, C. P. (2017). Prevalence of depression and anxiety among bisexual people compared to gay, lesbian and heterosexual individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Annual Review of Sex Research, 55(3/4), 435–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1387755
Rust, P. C. R. (Ed.). (2000). Bisexuality in the United States: A social science reader. Columbia University Press.
Salim, S., Robinson, M., & Flanders, C. E. (2019). Bisexual women’s experiences of microaggressions and microaffirmations and their relation to mental health. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 6(3), 336–346. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000329
Spandler, H., & Barker, M. (2016, July 1). Mad and queer studies: Interconnections and tensions [blog]. Mad Studies Network. https://madstudies2014.wordpress.com/2016/07/01/mad-and-queer-studies-interconnections-and-tensions/. Accessed 26 October 2020.
Spandler, H., & Carr, S. (2021). A history of lesbian politics and the psy professions. Feminism & Psychology, 31(1), 119–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353520969297
White, W., Brenman, S., Paradis, E., Goldsmith, E. S., Lunn, M. R., Obedin-Maliver, J., Stewart, L., Tran, E., Wells, M., Chamberlain, L. J., Fetterman, D. M., & Garcia, G. (2015). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patient care: Medical students’ preparedness and comfort. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 27(3), 254–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2015.1044656
Yoshino, K. (2000). The epistemic contract of bisexual erasure. Stanford Law Review, 52(2), 353–461. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229482
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Rebecca Bagnarol for administrative assistance in the preparation of this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ross, L.E., Costa, L. (2021). “Slighted and Unheard”: The Psychiatrization of Bisexuality. In: Daley, A., Pilling, M.D. (eds) Interrogating Psychiatric Narratives of Madness. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83692-4_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83692-4_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-83691-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-83692-4
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)