WeeklySA_AdminPREJUDICE: People with sexual minority identities continue to face more discrimination and bullying than heterosexual people…
By WSAM Correspondent
Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people are more than twice as likely than their straight peers to experience suicidal thoughts or self-harming behaviours, a new study led by UCL researchers has found.
The study, published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, is the first ever to analyse nationally representative data on sexual orientation and suicidality in England whilst being able to compare individual sexual minority groups. The researchers analysed data combined from two household surveys of 10,443 English adults (aged 16 and over), representative of the population, sampled in 2007 and 2014.
As well as finding an increased probability of past-year suicidal thoughts among lesbian or gay adults when compared with heterosexuals, and of lifetime non-suicidal self-harm among bisexual, lesbian or gay people, they also found that depression, anxiety, and experiences of discrimination or bullying may contribute in part to these increased risks.
Concerningly, the researchers found no improvement in these inequalities in suicidal thoughts and self-harm between the two time points.
Lead researcher Dr Alexandra Pitman (UCL Psychiatry) said: “While national surveys of British attitudes towards same-sex relationships suggest that society has become more tolerant of people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual, there is clearly a long way to go, as the mental health outcomes we were studying did not improve across our study period.
“People with sexual minority identities continue to face more discrimination and bullying than heterosexual people and are also more likely to experience common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
Our study suggests that these experiences of discrimination and bullying may have some role to play in increasing the risk of suicidality and this requires further research.
Cultures and Attitudes
“Clinicians should be aware of these issues, so that we can best support the mental health of LGB patients, while society as a whole also has a role to play in helping to reduce discrimination. Government bodies, schools, workplaces and individuals should all consider their own cultures and attitudes towards people from sexual minority groups and challenge discriminatory behaviour.”
The researchers had previously found, when analysing the same dataset, an increased probability of depression, anxiety, alcohol misuse and drug misuse among LGB adults compared with their heterosexual peers.
In the current study they found that half of lesbian or gay adults had experienced bullying and one in five had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation within the past year. For bisexual adults, almost half had experienced bullying and one in ten had experienced discrimination based on their sexual orientation within the past year.
The researchers found that even after accounting for the increased risk of common mental health problems (depression and anxiety), lesbian and gay adults were still more than twice as likely as heterosexuals to report past-year suicidal thoughts, and lesbian, gay and bisexual adults were more than three times as likely to report lifetime non-suicidal self-harm than heterosexuals.
The findings were similar for both men and women, and these inequalities had not changed between 2007 and 2014.
When investigating the comparative likelihood of past-year suicide attempt, the researchers found an increased risk for bisexual adults when compared with heterosexuals, but this was no longer apparent when taking into account the increased risk of common mental health problems. The researchers caution that as the proportions with past-year suicide attempt were relatively low, their findings do not necessarily rule out an elevated suicide attempt risk among the sexual minority group as a whole.
Further analysis suggested that experiences of bullying may contribute to the increased probability of suicidal thoughts among lesbian or gay adults, and that experiences of discrimination and bullying (both categorised as minority stress factors) may each contribute to the increased risk of self-harm among lesbian, gay and bisexual adults.
First author Garrett Kidd, who worked on the study as his dissertation for a Clinical Mental Health Sciences MSc in UCL Psychiatry, said: “Our findings add to a concerning picture of health inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
“Our health services need to be improved to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people, as some people may not feel comfortable disclosing their sexual orientation, which can hamper an understanding of their health and social needs. We also need to offer more mental health services specifically catered to LGBTQ+ people, ideally alongside community-based support.”
The researchers say that further research is needed to fully understand the reasons why sexual minority groups are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts or self-harm, such as how victimisation, family environment or stigma might be contributing factors, and in order to develop public health interventions that could reduce suicidality and potentially save lives.
The lead researchers were supported by the NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre.
Mental Health
Meanwhile, in 2021, a study led by University College London researchers – in collaboration with the University of East Anglia and City, University – found that lLGB people were significantly more likely to have mental health conditions and report alcohol and drug misuse than heterosexual people common mental disorders high in LGB people
The findings, published then in Psychological Medicine, came despite apparently more tolerant societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships.
Given this continued disparity, the report’s researchers called at the time for Government action to ensure equity in health and social care services. They highlighted the need for improved awareness among health professionals to the mental health needs of sexual minority groups.
They also called for policies that improve societal understanding, starting with encouraging schools to intervene earlier to encourage tolerant attitudes towards sexual minorities across the whole school community.
The research analysed data from the 2007 and 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys (APMS), which had a combined sample of 10 433 people in England aged 16-64.
The surveys completed via face-to-face interviews and/or computer self-completion and contained data relating to sexual orientation, common mental disorders (CMD), hazardous alcohol use, and illicit drug use. Further information was collected on experiences of bullying and discrimination, religious identification and childhood sexual abuse.
In this analysis of 2007 and 2014 data, the researchers found there had been no change (ie, no improvement) between 2007 and 2014, with LGB people remaining at higher risk of poorer mental health when compared to heterosexuals.
The prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders among bisexual people was 40%, and for lesbian and gay people it was 28%, which was significantly higher than that for heterosexuals at 16%. Similarly, illicit drug use was highest among bisexual people, at 37%, while for lesbian and gay people it was 25% and heterosexuals, at 10.5%. Alcohol misuse was highest in lesbian and gay people, at 37%, compared with bisexual people at 31%, and heterosexuals, at 24%.
Researchers found evidence to suggest that exposure to bullying and discrimination may help explain the observed poorer mental health in lesbian women and gay men, but not in bisexual people.
No evidence was found to support any apparent contribution of differences in religious affiliation or experiences of adversity such as childhood sexual abuse in the association between sexuality and mental health problems.
