LGBTQ individuals — those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer — often face challenges such as disproportionately high rates of substance abuse and mental health conditions. The Trevor Project, the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people found that 40 percent of the survey respondents had seriously considered suicide in the past year.
“I think we know that LGBTQ youth are a vulnerable population and I think we could do so much more to support them,” says Jessica Bernacki, a licensed clinical psychologist at the UCLA Gender Health Program, who was not a part of the Trevor Project research team. “The alarmingly high rates of suicidality and self-harm and housing insecurity were concerning,” she says, “and really highlighted for me the importance of the work we are doing in trying to help support gender-diverse youth and their families.”
Historically, many medical professionals looked at homosexuality and gender variance as illnesses that needed treatment, according to an article published in the 2019 issue of “American Psychologist.” LGBTQ people struggled to find appropriate care for decades.
The Trevor Project’s report found 46 percent of LGBTQ youth reported that they wanted counseling from a mental health expert but weren’t able to get it. “Improving behavioral health coverage is essential,” Bernacki says. “There’s just getting mental health services covered and then there’s also getting access to a knowledgeable provider.”
Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are at greater risk for depression and suicide, and nearly a third had attempted suicide at least once in the prior year compared to 6% of their heterosexual peers, according to the CDC.
So, who should be providing that support to LGBTQ youth? Families — including parents and guardians — as well as schools, government organizations and faith groups. Many now also advocate for addiction recovery. Parents and families play a huge role in protecting LGBTQ youth, too, experts say.
