Understanding the potential impact of ostracism on LGBTQ health disparities

Abstract

Research finds harmful impacts of ostracism on the health and well-being of the ostracized individual (as well as the ostracizer and members of the community). While often conceptualized as social (interpersonal), ostracism may originate at multiple levels of the socio-ecological system, including forms of political and institutional ostracism. The ostracism of LGBTQ people originates in cultural stigma and is reproduced and reinforced at all levels, from discriminatory laws and institutional policies (e.g., workplace, educational), to the actions of community or family members, to interactions with strangers. Ostracism, acute and chronic, creates increased risk for psychological and physical harm to LGBTQ individuals, including depression, suicidality, resignation, and physical pain. This paper presents an argument for the importance of recognizing the different types and potential harms of ostracism at multiple, concurrent levels of the environment for LGBTQ people, and understanding the activation of physical pain sensations in the brain, especially as part of chronic negative health impacts. Studying ostracism directly may lead to new conceptualizations for coping with minority stress involving ostracism, and for treatment protocols and interventions responding to the specific harms of ostracism for LGBTQ people.