We are used to talking about work stress, but have you heard about minority stress? Whether you have heard of it or not, please stop for a minute to reflect on this post, and how minority stress affects you and the other people around you.
Minority stress describes the stress faced by members of the minority groups (e.g. based on gender, skin color, sexual orientation). Numerous scientific studies have shown that prejudices towards minority groups cause stress responses (e.g., high blood pressure, anxiety) that accrue over time, eventually leading to poor mental and physical health.
Based on studies lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals face higher rates of suicide, substance abuse, and cancer comapred to heterosexuals.
It’s pretty no-brainer that living in the fear of encountering hostile behaviour, not to mention suffering from direct discrimination and violence, creates stress. In addition it’s common that minority individuals create internalized oppression, which refers to the internalization of negative social views about your own minority group, which leads to self-hatred and poor self-regard.
But less often we realize that only representing a minority in your social group can raise your stress levels.
We are biologically coded to be part of the group. The same areas of our brain become activated when we experience rejection as when we experience physical pain. And similarity and unity protects us from that painful rejection. That’s why we “feel the pinch” when we stand out from the crowd.
Everyone has experienced this at some point in their life. Remember going to a party where you’re the only one that has misunderstood dress code? Or traveling in an exotic country and being the only white person in a bus?
Now imagine having that feeling everyday.
Social norms (e.g. being white, cisgendered, abled, heterosexual…) can be seen as huge storms, where the wind blows, but it’s calm in the center. The ones that fit the standard, are in the middle and might not even recognise that there is a storm around them, but the further away one moves from the center, the more they feel the storm.
With this simple chart you can test how often you stand in the center and how often you find yourself fighting against the winds.
Let's make this world a safer and less stressful place for everyone. Understand your privilege of being in the calm center of the storm. And show supportive empathy to the ones that have to fight the winds everyday.
Resources:
Pascoe, Elizabeth A.; Smart Richman, Laura (2009). "Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review". Psychological Bulletin. 135 (4): 531–554. doi:10.1037/a0016059. ISSN 1939-1455. PMC 2747726. PMID 19586161.
Cochran, S. D., & Mays, V. M. (2000). Lifetime prevalence of suicide symptoms and affective disorders among men reporting same-sex sexual partners: Results from NHANES III. American Journal of Public Health, 90,573-578.
Burgard, S. A., Cochran, S. D., & Mays, V. M. (2005). Alcohol and tobacco use patterns among heterosexually and homosexually experienced California women. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 77, 61-70.
Bowen, D. J., Boehmer, U., & Russo, M. (2003). Cancer and sexual minority women. In I. H. Meyer and M. E. Northridge (Eds.), The Health of Sexual Minorities.Washington, DC: APA.
