Same Sexual Orientation as a Potential Risk Factor for Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

Considered as a minority, the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) community including homosexual males is more prone to mental distress. Studies on prevalence stated that sexual orientation minorities are susceptible to inept mental health outcomes, and the rate of anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and psychotic illness is twice higher in gay and bisexual men rather than in heterosexuals. Along with that, several investigations found similarity between structural features in the brain of schizophrenic patients and homosexual males. This study intends to analyze the male homosexuality as a potential risk factor for schizophrenia. According to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) findings, brain structures similarity is found between schizophrenic patients and homosexual men specifically on the thalamic grey matter volume and cortical thickness of the brain. Both schizophrenic patients and homosexual males exhibit reduced grey matter volume in the thalamus region, meanwhile schizophrenic patients have lower grey matter volume in the left putamen and homosexual males showed higher left putamen grey matter volume compared to heterosexual individuals. The cortex of schizophrenic patients is thinner in left orbitofrontal, right parahippocampal, and superior temporal area, resembling to thinner cortex in the right lateral orbitofrontal regions and regions in the visual cortex of homosexual males. Based on the reviewed journals, male homosexuality can be a potential risk factor for schizophrenia considering their correlation in neurodevelopmental deviations. Nevertheless, further investigations are needed regarding other factors and pathways causing such structural brain changes in both conditions. Keywords: grey matter, homosexual, neurodevelopmental, schizophrenia