Page 324 - ILIAS ATHANASIADIS AKA RO1

Just last week, Grindr announced that it will start sending users HIV testing

reminders and the addresses of local testing sites (on an opt-in basis). In less
pleasant news,

BuzzFeed revealed on Monday that Grindr has also been sharing the HIV status

of its users with third-party companies. (The company later said it would stop
sharing the information.)

Though there is this new attention to sexual health, both Grindr and the research

community have been silent on mental health. Yet since 2007, more gay men
have died from suicide than from HIV.

This suggests it’s time we start thinking about Grindr’s health effects more

broadly.

Other dating apps, like Tinder, for example, are now the subject of early
research looking at mental health implications. It’s time to do the same for gay

hookup apps.

Grindr may provide men with some relief from

their anxiety and depression. But it’s temporary.

For some users I talked to, the allure of Grindr was not just the rush to feel good.
It was to stop feeling bad.

Users told me they log on when they feel sad, anxious, or lonely. Grindr can

make those feelings go away. The attention and potential for sex distract from
painful emotions.

A staggering number of gay men suffer from depression, with some estimates as

high as 50 percent.

Because gay men’s anxiety and depression often stem from childhood rejection
for being gay, messages of affirmation from other gay men are particularly

appealing. Unfortunately, these messages are typically only skin-deep: “Hey
man, cute pic. Looking to ****?”