‘Why is it so different now I’m bisexual?’: young bisexual people’s experiences of identity, belonging, self-injury, and COVID19

ABSTRACT

Bisexual people demonstrate higher rates of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) in comparison to other groups. This study aimed to explore bisexual people’s experiences of sexuality, NSSI and the COVID19 pandemic. Fifteen bisexual people (16–25 years old) with experience of NSSI participated in online qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was used. Preliminary findings were shared with a subset of participants for member-checking. Participants described experiences of falling between the binary worlds of heterosexuality and homosexuality and described discrimination and invalidation related to this. Lack of access to positive bisexual representation contributed to feelings of self-loathing, with NSSI used to manage emotions or self-punish. The effect of lockdown was not clear cut, depending on personal circumstances and meanings of social interaction for participants. There is a need for greater recognition of significant societal narratives around bisexuality within clinical formulations of mental health difficulties and NSSI within this population.

KEYWORDS:

• Bisexuality
• non-suicidal self-injury
• NSSI
• lockdown
• COVID19
• qualitative

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brendan J Dunlop

Brendan J. Dunlop is a Clinical Psychologist in training at the University of Manchester, and is co-investigator on The Self-Injury in young Bisexual people: a Longitudinal investigation (SIBL) research project. Brendan has worked clinically with a wide variety of mental health presentations and approaches to intervention. Brendan’s research involvement and research publications to date have mainly focussed upon self-injury, and his research interests including self-injury, minority mental health (particularly LGBTQ+), suicide prevention and intervention and service user involvement.

Cheryl Hunter

Dr Cheryl Hunter is a Clinical Psychologist working in paediatric health. She has a PhD in psychiatry from the University of Manchester which explored experiences of assessment following self-harm. Her research interests are in living with long-term conditions, communication and epistemic (in)justice in healthcare contexts and lived experiences of suicidality and self-harm.

Matina Shafti

Matina Shafti is an ESRC funded PhD student at the University of Manchester, based within the Division of Psychology and Mental Health. Her PhD is examining the psychological mechanisms that may underlie co-occurring self-harm and aggression (dual harm) in forensic mental health service users, focusing on the roles of personality and emotional dysregulation. Matina’s research interests include risky behaviours, marginalised groups and social justice.

Sophie E Coleman

Sophie E Coleman is a Clinical Psychologist in training at the University of Manchester, and is co-investigator on The Self-Injury in young Bisexual people: a Longitudinal investigation (SIBL) research project. Her research interests include lived experience within mental health and minority status.

Samantha Hartley

Dr Samantha Hartley is based at the Hope and Horizon Adolescent Inpatient Units and is part of the Pennine Care Young People's Mental Health Research Unit; developing and delivering projects in collaboration with academic partners and public involvement. Dr Hartley previously held a HEE/NIHR Integrated Clinical Academic Clinical Lectureship with Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and The University of Manchester. This funded a programme of work with the ultimate aim of developing interventions to support effective therapeutic relationships. The focus now is to build on this work alongside collaborating on developments in therapeutic interventions for young people drawing on relational approaches and coproduction. Dr Hartley is associate editor of Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice.

Peter J Taylor

Dr Peter J Taylor currently works as a clinical lecturer at the University of Manchester. He completed both his PhD and clinical training at the University, before working for three years at the University of Liverpool as a lecturer in clinical psychology. He returned to work at Manchester in September 2016. Dr Taylor’s research focuses on the psychosocial mechanisms underlying suicide and self-harm. This work includes investigations of the affective processes surrounding self-harm and suicide (specific mood states like shame and emotional instability more generally), traits related to risk of self-harm (e.g., impulsivity), and the process by which individuals negotiate help-seeking in relation to their self-harm. A second research interest concerns psychological interventions for psychosis. This has included work concerning Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) for people with experiences of psychosis.