Suici and Vlence Preventn Among Gay and Bisexual Men | CDC

Contents:

• REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS
• SUICI AND SUICI RISK LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR POPULATNS: REVIEW AND REMENDATNS

REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS

Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men are at overall creased risk of vlence bee of homophobia, harassment, and vlent acts directed towards gay persons. A study of youth gras 7-12 found that lbian, gay, and bisexual youth were more than twice as likely to have attempted suici as their heterosexual peers.

72 MB] has shown that around 40% of gay men experienced sexual vlence (other than rape) their lifetime and around 47% of bisexual men experienced sexual vlence (other than rape) their lifetime. Acrdg to data om the Youth Risk Behavr Survey (YRBS) nducted durg 2001-2009 seven stat and six large urban school districts, 14% to 31% of gay and lbian stunts across the s and 17% of 32% of bisexual stunts across the s had been forced to have sexual terurse at some pot their liv.

Suici is the send leadg e of ath among young people aged 10 to 24 (Hegaard, Curt, & Warner, 2018) — and lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and qutng (LGBTQ) youth are at signifintly creased youth are more than four tim as likely to attempt suici than their peers (Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020) Trevor Project timat that more than 1. The majory of gay and bisexual men have and mata good mental health, even though rearch has shown that they are at greater risk for mental health problems.

SUICI AND SUICI RISK LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR POPULATNS: REVIEW AND REMENDATNS

However, ongog homophobia, stigma (negative and ually unfair beliefs), and discrimatn (unfairly treatg a person or group of people) n have negative effects on your health. Keepg your sexual orientatn hidn om others (beg “ the closet”) and fear of havg your sexual orientatn disclosed (beg “outed”) n add to the strs of beg gay or bisexual. In general, rearch has shown that gay and bisexual men who are open about their sexual orientatn wh others have better health out than gay and bisexual men who do not.

However, beg “out” some settgs and to people who react negatively n add to the strs experienced by gay and bisexual men, and n lead to poorer mental health and discrimatn. Mental health unselg and support groups that are sensive to the needs of gay and bisexual men n be pecially eful if you are g to terms wh your sexual orientatn or are experiencg prsn, anxiety, or other mental health problems. While many gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men may not seek re om a mental health provir bee of a fear of discrimatn or homophobia, is important to keep this as an optn and to fd a provir that is tstworthy and patible.

Suici risk among lbian, gay, and bisexual adults vari nsirably pendg on the tersectn between sexual inty and other aspects of inty, such as genr, age, and race/ethnicy, acrdg to a study led by rearchers at the Natnal Instute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the Natnal Instut of Health.

The study, which examed data om a natnally reprentative survey of adults the Uned Stat, also showed that lbian, gay, and bisexual adults are overall more likely to report suici-related thoughts, plans, and attempts wh the past 12 months pared wh heterosexual adults. The fdgs, published the Amerin Journal of Preventive Medice, dite that the tersectn of multiple social inti may pound suici risk for some lbian, gay, and bisexual dividuals.

“This study monstrat the importance of askg about sexual inty natnal data llectn efforts, and highlights the prsg need for suici preventn servic that addrs the specific experienc and needs of lbian, gay, and bisexual adults of different genrs, ag, and race and ethnic groups, ” said Rajeev Ramchand, Ph.