Coming out of the closet boosts health of lesbians, gays and bisexuals

Stigma-related stress might force LGBs to develop coping strategies that make them more effective at managing future stressors.

"Coming out of the closet is a major milestone in lives of LGBs that has not been studied extensively using interdisciplinary approaches that assess stress biomarkers" said co-author Dr. Nathan Grant Smith.

These exciting findings underline the role self-acceptance and disclosure has on the positive health and wellbeing of LGBs. In turn, this has important implications for ongoing political debates.

"Coming out might only be beneficial for health when there are tolerant social policies that facilitate the disclosure process" said Juster.

"Societal intolerance during the disclosure process impairs one's self-acceptance that generates increased distress and contributes to mental and physical health problems," he added

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