People who are gay, lbian or bi have more mental health and substance e problems, survey fds | CNN

Contents:

• REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS
• NEARLY A THIRD OF YOUNG GAY PEOPLE HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICI, STUDY FDS
• SUICI ATTEMPTS AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN: LIFETIME PREVALENCE AND ANTECENTS
• PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BI HAVE MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE E PROBLEMS, SURVEY FDS
• STUDY HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY, STRAIGHT SUICIS
• REARCHERS FD DISPARI SUICI RISK AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS
• GAY, BISEXUAL MEN HAVE LOWER SUICI RISK MORE TOLERANT UNTRI

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

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.

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.

NEARLY A THIRD OF YOUNG GAY PEOPLE HAVE ATTEMPTED SUICI, STUDY FDS

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.

SUICI ATTEMPTS AMONG GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN: LIFETIME PREVALENCE AND ANTECENTS

Prev rearch has shown that, when examed as a group, adults who intify as lbian, gay, or bisexual have higher rat of suicidal thoughts and attempts relative to heterosexual adults.

PEOPLE WHO ARE GAY, LBIAN OR BI HAVE MORE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE E PROBLEMS, SURVEY FDS

As part of the survey, participants reported their sexual inty (heterosexual, lbian or gay, bisexual, or don’t know), and whether they had had suicidal thoughts, suici plans, or suici attempts at any time the past 12 months. In le wh prev rearch, the NSDUH data showed that rat of all three suici-related behavrs—thoughts, plans, and attempts—were generally higher among lbian, gay, and bisexual adults than among heterosexual adults.

STUDY HIGHLIGHTS DIFFERENC BETWEEN GAY, STRAIGHT SUICIS

After takg mographic factors to acunt, the rearchers found that suici risk was three to six tim greater for lbian, gay, and bisexual adults than for heterosexual adults across every age group and race/ethnicy tegory. When the rearchers looked at the specific tersectn between mory sexual inty and race/ethnicy, they found that whe and Black women who intified as bisexual were more likely to report suicidal thoughts relative to whe and Black women who intified as lbian or gay. Lookg at the tersectn between mory sexual inty and age, the rearchers found that suicidal thoughts were also relatively higher among bisexual women the 35-64 group pared wh lbian or gay women the same age group.

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.

Homophobia — wh fai, schools, muni and even doctors and unsellors offic — is a key e, acrdg to the Still Here project wh the Men’s Health Rearch Program at the Universy of Brish Columbia. As a postdoctoral rearch fellow nursg at the Universy of Brish Columbia, I work on the Still Here project to engage gay and bisexual men who have prevly stggled wh suici (or who have lost another gay or bisexual man to suici) to tell their stori through photographs.

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

Many Still Here participants also scribed how they were nonted wh homophobia and stigmatizg attus when they opened up to talk about their feelgs to their doctor or unsellor. Cril to remember is that the more openly people talk about suici and homosexual suici and the ls stigma people feel around the issu, the more people n succsfully fight back agast LGBTQIA+ suici.

GAY, BISEXUAL MEN HAVE LOWER SUICI RISK MORE TOLERANT UNTRI

Suici rat among young people have been on the rise recent years, acrdg to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn, but gay and bisexual youths are almost five tim as likely to have attempted suici as their straight, spe advanc the fight for LGBTQ equaly, a new report fds that young gay people today are even more likely to have attempted suici than prev generatns. Rearchers at the Williams Instute, a sexual orientatn and genr inty thk tank at UCLA School of Law, found that 30 percent of lbian, gay and bisexual rponnts ag 18 to 25 reported at least one suici attempt, pared to 24 percent of those 34-41 and 21 percent of those study, published last month the journal PLOS One, also revealed that the young adults are experiencg higher levels of victimizatn, psychologil distrs and ternalized homophobia than olr generatns. ""But one of the first narrativ I listened to was om an 18-year-old Lato om San Francis, and his narrative was the same as we've heard for generatns — homophobia, excln, shame.

Although primarily based on opportunistic sampl, prr rearch suggts that gay men, lbians, and bisexual persons have higher rat of suicidal iatn, suici attempts, and pleted suicis than do heterosexual dividuals.

Lifetime prevalence rat of ser suicidal iatn rangg om 24% to 41% have been reported, along wh lifetime prevalence rat of suici attempts rangg om 7% to 20% among adult gay men and lbians. 4–12 The available evince13 suggts that the relative risk for ser suici attempts among gay and bisexual mal is substantially greater than that among their heterosexual unterparts, but basic epimlogil rearch on suicidal behavr this populatn is both sparse quanty and ficient qualy, plagued by methodologil fics, particularly wh rpect to samplg.