Dr Bartłomiej Stańczykiewicz, from the Medical University of Wroclaw will investigate the relationship between minority stress in LGBTQ people and the production of cortisol. The scientist won a grant for his research within the Miniature competition of the National Science Center. 

Researchers believe that the LBTQ population is more likely to experience psychological difficulties and suffer from an increased risk of developing mental disorders. This phenomenon is explained by the Meyer minority stress model, which is characterized by the expectation of rejection, living in hiding, internalized homophobia, and stress related to events resulting from prejudice.

Especially the expectation of rejection and internalized homophobia are important for the emergence of anxiety and depression in homosexual men. Recently, it has been shown that homosexual men compared to heterosexual men are characterized by an increased cortisol response to stress, which may be related to stigmatization and sexual labelling.

More: https://www.umw.edu.pl/content/czy-orientacja-wplywa-na-stres