Those looking for good news in the last few weeks of 2016 may want to set their alarm clocks to snooze for another twenty-three days.
A sweeping new study by the National Alliance on Mental Illness indicates that people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender are three times as likely to suffer from certain mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Related: Aaron Carter Opens Up About His Problems With Drug Addiction And Depression
Here’s a chart provided by Mentalhelp breaking down the data:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
While collecting data, researchers conducted interviews with members of the community, but these real-life testimonials add little in the way of cheer to these sobering statistics.
“I think coming out to myself and to (select) others really helped,” says “Andrew,” a 54-year-old bisexual cisgender man. “It was like a weight lifted off me — keeping all those contradictions bottled up must have been a tremendous source of stress itself.”
Related: Colby Melvin Goes Live To Discuss Battle With Suicidal Depression
“It was rare to make it to the end of the hallway of people without hearing at least three homophobic or transphobic slurs,” says Jessica, a pansexual transgender woman, age 22. “A classmate of mine came out of the closet as gay and was harassed regularly to the point of dropping out of high school.”
“Since coming out as trans, I have lost nearly every friend I have ever had, most of my family no longer speaks to me,” says Laura, a 35-year-old transgender woman.
One of the most surprising takeaways from the study is the fact that young people still face the highest risk for developing psychological problems, which goes against the notion of younger generations being more tolerant than those who have come before.
Related: STUDY: Gay Men Rank Their Top Health Concerns
Their increased risk of depression directly connects to whether or not the youth is being bullied, the CDC reveals.
As for substance abuse, there are significantly higher rates of binge drinking and heavy drinking than those of heterosexual people (19.2% verses 12.1%).
Several respondents made a point of directly correlating their drug and alcohol intake to coping “with the distress of living in an unwelcoming society.”
“I have used substances in the past to try to deaden the pain,” says Chris, a 57-year-old who identifies as a gender-nonconforming bisexual. “Sometimes this has been a direct action after suffering as a gender minority and being treated as if I do not have value.”
If there’s an inkling of hope in any of this, its in the data gathered to glean the quality of life and overall sense of emotional support in the LGBTQ community. Generally, LGBTQ people said they were overly satisfied and had a decent support network in their lives.
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Thirty-six percent of participants claimed they were “very satisfied with their lives,” which is still slightly lower than straight individuals (48%).
“Connecting with other trans people has been the single most important factor in reducing my isolation,” says David, a 27-year-old bisexual transgender man. “Other trans people are able to relate to me in ways that my health care providers and family members (who are all cisgender at this time) don’t.”
If you’re reading this thinking “I’m one of those statistics,” here’s a good resource to get in touch with people near you who can help guide you to help.
Transiteer
gee …. ya think? When you first realize why you feel different from everyone else, and recognize how unwelcome that is with so many around you, fear takes over. These “depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder” aren’t disorders — they should be expected for those who remain under the “fight or flight” height of tension.
Relax. There’s nothing wrong with you. There’s a lot wrong with others, especially the religious others. It’s like being born left-handed — naturally occurring and intended.
dwes09
“Those looking for good news in the last few weeks of 2016 may want to set their alarm clocks to snooze for another twenty-three days.”
What bull! This is not a call to snooze, but a call to action in the face of a horrid election (sorry, alaistar, brian, mo bro, joety et al but you are idiots). The right would have us believe this is because we are weak, but the truth is that it is the marginalization we suffer. and the right wants very much to increase that marginalization, as their actions make very clear (sorry to the aforementioned, but your imagination does not negate reality).
The next four years will require activism and courage as we will have to withstand efforts to reduce our visibility and withdraw our hard won enfranchisement.
Danny279
This is a complete mess. The graphic is entitled “Depression in the LGBT Community.” But there are no results for transgenders. “Queer” and “questioning” are 2 entirely different groups. The survey purports to lump the results of both groups together, while at the same time, the fine print admits that there actually were no responses received from “queer” or “questioning” people, but instead from 576 people who identified as “other.” Other studies have shown that LGs fare better than “questioning” or “queer” people, which suggests that “other” refers to something other than these 2 groups. Further, the survey lumps gay men and lesbians together, and bi men and women together, even though it is well known that results diverge between the sexes. A bona fide mess.
Kangol
LGBTQ people more likely to suffer from the effects of HOMOPHOBIA! There, cleared that up!
inbama
@Danny279:
Yep, this dubious “study” is totally mislabeled.
Billy Budd
it may be a flawed study, but it is obvious to me that to live under constant stress, fear and pain due to persecution, bullying and prejudice will certainly trigger depression and other problems in people who would be completely healthy otherwise.
BillSam
Like all “studies,” this has to be taken with a grain of salt. Why are these alleged results being released NOW, in any case? It goes without saying that it can be depressing for some people to deal with prejudice, especially in the Age of Trump, but LGBT people can also be depressed for the same reasons that affect non-LGBT people — romantic or financial problems, for instance. Studies like this just seem so unscientific and biased to me anyway.
notcisjustmale
Why include T in the headline when it isn’t mentioned substantively in the article. Pretty sloppy editing. Or is it that writers are so afraid of setting off the trans-mafia meltdown if they’re either left out or mentioned in the same breath with mental illness. And what on earth is queer/questioning? Nobody is reclaiming queer anymore. It is a category that describes millennials who don’t find being a hipster edgy enough. And questioning? I’m guessing that’s like the undecided voters. Yeah, they know who they’re voting for but don’t get enough attention for being honest.
Kieran
Within this short article we read about “a bisexual cisgender man”, “a pansexual transgender woman”, “a transgender woman”, “a gender-nonconforming bisexual” and finally “a bisexual transgender man”. Confused yet? Imagine how straight people must feel when they read stuff like this: So, are gay men men who want to be men but who like other men or do they really feel like women who like men but who were born into the wrong bodies or…?
Why can’t gay men just be gay men like they used to? What is this push to lump gays and transgender people together? Not to say we can’t or shouldn’t be allies with the transexual community but these are two distinct groups and linking them just foments confusion.
Billy Budd
@Alistair Wiseman: We have been targets of vicious attacks and injustive for decades. Centuries, even. And you say I am victimizing us? Jewish people make hundreds of movies about the injustices they suffered. I would like the injustices WE suffer to be recognized too. So that they will ceaze to exist and never return.
GayEGO
This only happens because straight people are stilling learning that we are normal as proven by science and they need to teach all children that we are part of civilization. LGBTs have been found in the animal kingdom, perhaps we are part of population control, but we are normal and we are also American citizens who deserve equal rights. Did you notice that Ben Carson commented that going to jail makes you gay, and Donald Trump picked him on his cabinet. Fasten your seat belts it is going to be a bumpy four years!
rubberbear
Psychiatry said they stopped saying LGBTQ people were mentally ill in 1973. When are they really going to stop making LGBTQ people mentally ill?
abnerbha
Gay & lesbian conduct causes Gay Bowel Syndrome, bacterial vaginosis & gay men more likely to wear diapers. Homosexual/lesbian conduct is bad for health and people who do homosexual/lesbian sexual conduct should pay more for medical insurance just as smokers, obese, etc. pay more for medical insurance due to dangers-homosexual/lesbian sexual conduct is useless, linked to Venereal Diseases (VD) and does not result in procreation. With gay/lesbian conduct by adults, it’s best to find a cure for homosexual/lesbian conduct just as it’s best to find cure for tobacco use. Homosexual/lesbian conduct is bad for health & that doesn’t procreate. Gays dirty sex acts make them incontinent with gay bowel syndrome-gays & lesbians often shit in diapers.
abnerbha
@GayEGO: stealing and killing are also found in nature. Cannibalism is also found among animals so natural argument is poor.Using animals as a guide to how people should behave is a bad idea.
I don’t care about gay/lesbian marriage & though information war has been lost, truth must still be said. I have thought about this & don’t think any1 can rebut conclusion that childhood sex abuse victims of gay/lesbian pedophiles have more risk of turning out gay/lesbian by copying the conduct they learned because think you know that conduct incl. sexual conduct can be learned. Think you know it is possible for people who are victims of same sex molestation (such as victims of gay pedophile priests) to copy this sexual conduct and do gay conduct in adulthood incl. turn out to be gay pedophiles.