OVERCOMING INTERNALISED PHOBIA AMONG BUDDHIST SEXUAL MINORITIES THROUGH MINDFULNESS

ABSTRACT

When heterosexuality dominates sexual culture, sexual minorities are marginalised, yielding minority stress and internalised phobia which devastate psychological well-being and raise suicide risks. A growing trend in using mindfulness-related interventions in health care shows positive signs, but there is a paucity of research on mindfulness for sexual minorities. This qualitative research, through interpretative phenomenological analysis, looks into how Buddhist sexual minorities (from various countries) interpret mindfulness from which their increased self-awareness, self-esteem and self-acceptance become prominent intrinsic resources, resulting in enhanced mental health and quality of life. Such an exploratory study extends the horizon of health care benefits for helping professionals and sexual minorities with alternative views in overcoming external and internalised phobia.

Acknowledgements

I thank the participants for their open discussion. I also appreciate comments from Jessie and Bhante Shravasti Dhammika on an early draft of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Fung Kei Cheng

Fung Kei Cheng, PhD, focuses on applying Buddhist and Chinese cultural theories to a variety of disciplines, including counselling and psychotherapy, mental health, complementary and alternative medicine, conflict resolution, management, gender studies and sustainable development. Her research outcomes have been published in international peer-reviewed journals in English and Chinese. She can be reached at [email protected]