Rural, kink-oriented people experience much exogenous oppression and yet related research is scarce. This study examined the risk and protective factors of kink-oriented rural Tasmanian Australians with preexisting mental health conditions and help-seeking barriers and facilitators. Participants completed either an online survey (n = 42), an interview (n = 10), or both. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. Participants aged 18 to 61 were gender and sexually diverse and better educated but had more lifetime suicide attempts than the general public. Despite the increasing normalization of kink, 90.5% of participants have never seen a kink-aware mental health professional (MHP) and nearly 83.0% did not disclose to an MHP for fear of stigma or discrimination. Self-awareness, resilience, social support and kink improved participants’ mental health. Tailored support from trained MHP is vital to improve the mental health of kink-oriented people in rural areas.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	mental health, kink, rural, mental health services, service barriers, Tasmania, Australia, BDSM
Research Division:	Health Sciences
Research Group:	Health services and systems
Research Field:	Rural and remote health services
Objective Division:	Health
Objective Group:	Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health)
Objective Field:	Rural and remote area health
UTAS Author:	Reynish, TD (Ms Tamara Reynish)
UTAS Author:	Hoang, H (Dr Ha Hoang)
UTAS Author:	Bridgman, H (Dr Heather Bridgman)
ID Code:	148720
Year Published:	2022
Deposited By:	UTAS Centre for Rural Health
Deposited On:	2022-02-04
Last Modified:	2022-12-07
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