Man turns gay after stroke

[haurni]

An article in the Daily Telegraph about a man becoming gay after suffering a stroke is... well... interesting. Is it possible?

I haven't been able to locate any statements from neurologists or neuroscientists other that what's mentioned in the article (not that I looked very hard), but I suppose it's conceivable, particularly if he suffered some frontal lobe damage, which has been shown to affect personality.

So either he was a) bi/gay before and is using this as his excuse to come out, or b) he was bi/gay before but didn't admit it to himself and now he can (as a result of a personality change), or c) he was innately bi/gay and the stroke has brought an 'unrealized' aspect of his sexuality to the fore. Of the three options, the latter would be the most convincing proof that sexual orientation is biologically determined, though whether this would be the case for all individuals is a different question.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I'm gonna file it under "weird and unreplicable shit" until more data comes in.

 

[roomfor1more]

There was a show called, if I remeber correctly, "I Woke up Gay." After watching it, I was not convinced the storke led to him becoming gay. My feeling, he was strugging with his sexuality before the stroke and by having the stroke he was able to resolve an exestial crisis, "death anxiety." The stroke, according to him in the show, destroyed a part of his memory and I believe, it allowed him to build a new identity for himself by chosing to lve his life as he saw fit.

 

[Etoile]

An article in the Daily Telegraph about a man becoming gay after suffering a stroke is... well... interesting. Is it possible?

I haven't been able to locate any statements from neurologists or neuroscientists other that what's mentioned in the article (not that I looked very hard), but I suppose it's conceivable, particularly if he suffered some frontal lobe damage, which has been shown to affect personality.

So either he was a) bi/gay before and is using this as his excuse to come out, or b) he was bi/gay before but didn't admit it to himself and now he can (as a result of a personality change), or c) he was innately bi/gay and the stroke has brought an 'unrealized' aspect of his sexuality to the fore. Of the three options, the latter would be the most convincing proof that sexual orientation is biologically determined, though whether this would be the case for all individuals is a different question.

Why not (d) he really was straight before, and now he really is gay?

I'm not saying that's the case, obviously lots more research is needed, but if Foreign Accent Syndrome is real, why not this? The brain can do funny things.

 

[haurni]

I'm not saying that's the case, obviously lots more research is needed, but if Foreign Accent Syndrome is real, why not this? The brain can do funny things.

It can indeed, which is why I don't simply dismiss this out of hand.

 

[PhilGarlic]

later reports said he had a 'rub'

 

[Blase]

later reports said he had a 'rub'

Man strokes after turning gay!