“I was suspicious of myself”: mental health and bisexuality between biolegitimacy and epistemic injustices

Abstract

This article addresses the injustices, erasures and biphobia that recur in bisexual people’s experiences, and how they negatively affect the mental health of this population. Dialoguing with the work of Didier Fassin, we present the concepts of epistemic injustice by Miranda Fricker and the epistemic contract of bisexual erasure by Kenji Yoshino, which allow us to note that bisexuals are not considered legitimate subjects to denounce and report their suffering or the violences they experience. We then show the relationship between biphobia and the precarious mental health of bisexual people, combining statistical and qualitative data. Furthermore, we turn our attention to psychotherapeutic care and the revictimization of bisexual people through violences committed by professionals without due preparation. Finally, we point out some possible ways to provide a more welcoming care for the bisexual population.