Anti stigma campaign mental illness

Hanoi — Being gay is not a disease, Vietnam has told its doctors, as it called on medical workers to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community. Campaigners told AFP on Tuesday the statement was a major step forward for LGBTQ rights in the Southeast Asian nation, where gay, bisexual and transgender people have long felt marginalized. In an official document released last week, the health ministry said that "homosexuality cannot be 'cured', does not need 'to be cured' and cannot be changed." It urged medical professionals to be "respectful" of gender and sexual orientation after receiving reports of doctors claiming they could treat gender minorities. "Do not consider homosexuality, bisexuality or being transgender a disease," it said. Although Vietnam is seen as relatively progressive on LGBTQ issues compared with some other countries in Asia, misinformation about sexual orientation and gender identity is widespread. According to a Human Rights Watch report published … [Read more...] about Being gay is not a disease, Vietnam tells its medical workers in bid to end anti-LGBTQ discrimination

The first time I experienced what I’d now refer to as binge eating, I was about six years old. My mum would keep Penguin bars in the cupboard for my school lunchbox, and when she wasn’t around I would sneak into the kitchen, grab a pack of eight and scurry back to my room to eat them all in quick succession, shoving the wrappers behind my dresser or inside my sock drawer. Eventually, when she realised what I was doing, my mum hid the food I was likely to binge on around the house so she could ration it out – stashes I steadfastly searched for, and always found. I continued to binge eat throughout my teens and twenties, although it took some time for me to realise that my eating may have been disordered. Living alone didn’t help – behaviours that had previously been secretive out of necessity became much easier to hide without housemates or family members always on the brink of discovering empty packets of food. At university I’d go to Tesco and buy six packs of … [Read more...] about Binge eating disorder: What is it and where can you get help?

By Sam Cabral Published 21 hours ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing When she left a bad marriage, Sania Khan said some members of her South Asian Muslim community made her feel like she had "failed at life". Through TikTok, she found support and comfort in strangers - until her ex returned and murdered her. This story contains details that may be upsetting to some readers. Her bags were packed. She was ready to be free. The 21st of July was to be the day Sania Khan, 29, left Chicago, Illinois - and the trauma of a relationship gone wrong - to begin a new solo chapter in her native Chattanooga. Instead, that day, she returned home to Tennessee in a casket. Three days earlier, officers had found Khan unresponsive near the front door of the Chicago condominium she had once shared with her estranged husband, Raheel Ahmad, 36. She had a gunshot wound to the … [Read more...] about Sania Khan: She TikToked her divorce, then her husband killed her