Taboo, rehabilitation or affirmation? Arguing for shifts in the emerging discourse on queer mental health in India
- The Indian Journal of Social Work
- 83(2), Apr, 2022: p.143-164
Psy disciplines1 have historically had an ambivalent relationship with the queer subject. In recent years, in response to a range of social, legal and policy changes vis-à-vis LGBT rights, there has been a growing interest about LGBT mental health among mental health professionals in India. This article will trace the changing nature of queer talk among mental health professionals in India and comment on two emerging approaches to queer mental health. One of these, the queer-friendly approach, I argue draws on and extends the existing public health approach that medicalises and seeks to rehabilitate non-normative genders and sexualities. The queer affirmative approach on the other hand seeks to draw from interdisciplinary and multi-vocal praxis2 to frame queer mental health. Possible relationship between these two approaches is discussed in the concluding section.- Reproduced
Queer, affirmative metical health, Queer, affirmative counseling practice (QACP), LGBT mental health, LGBT psychology, Depathologisation of homosexuality.