LGBT adolescents in America: Depression, discrimination and suicide

Abstract

IntroductionThe mental health of Adolescents in America is a major concern for the field of psychiatry. In particular, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) adolescents are at higher risk of adverse mental health outcomes. This is largely attributed to “minority stress” and from outright bullying and discrimination. In this presentation, this link between bullying and depression will be explored.ObjectivesBy the end of this presentation, the audience will be able to better understand the link between anti-LGBT bullying and mental illness and identify the ways to help their patients.MethodsThis presentation is informed by a literature search from PubMed In addition, it is informed by a symposium previously done at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual meeting in 2014.ResultsThere is clear evidence in the literature that bullying of LGBT adolescents is pervasive. In addition, LGBT people are more likely to be depressed than their heterosexual counterparts. This combination has led to 4-5 times higher rates of attempted suicide by LGBT adolescents. Having Gay-Straight Alliances in schools, supportive teachers and school administrators, and broader anti-discrimination legislation has a protective effect on this.ConclusionLGBT adolescents are exposed to more stress by being a minority in society and by being explicitly bullied and discriminated against. This can lead to depression in some of these adolescents, and can also lead to suicide in the most vulnerable among them. There are proven ways to reduce these risks, and psychiatrists have a role to play in advocating for these reforms.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Association Between Discrimination Stress and Suicidality in Preadolescent Children

“…non-US born, LGBT, obese/underweight). We found that racial/ethnic discrimination imposes a unique psychological stress that is significantly associated with childhood suicidality with a magnitude of effect similar to well established risk factors like sexual orientation-based discrimination 31 and weight-based discrimination. 32 Notably, the data analyzed in the current study was collected in 2018, two years before the COVID-19 pandemic, post-election furor, and the prominent racial justice protests of 2020-2021; therefore, our findings may have been even more pronounced had the data been collected today, in 2021.…”

“…We demonstrate that experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination are significant stressors whose magnitude of association with increased suicidality is similar to that of well-established risk factors, such as sexual orientation-based discrimination 31 or history of depression. 45 Therefore, clinicians should be mindful of this unique stressor and consider this as a potential contributor to suicide risk.…”

“…Multivariate analyses revealed that racial/ethnic discrimination is a unique contributor to suicidality in American youth, independent of other known environmental risk factors for suicidality including negative life events, 23 family conflict, 34 other discrimination types (i.e. sexual orientation-based), 31 and psychopathology. 25,45 Furthermore, though racial/ethnic discrimination is disproportionately experienced by Black children, its association with suicidality is similar in non-Black children.…”

“…neighborhood environment), composes the exposome, which has major implications for both mental and physical health. [27][28][29] Second, racial/ethnic discrimination may be associated with other forms of discrimination related to xenophobia; 30 sexual orientation; 31 and weight, 32 complicating the ability to tease apart the effect of racial/ethnic discrimination on suicidality from that of other discrimination types. Lastly, racial/ethnic discrimination is associated with other (non-suicide-specific) psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and substance use disorders, 19,33 which are risk factors for childhood suicidality.…”

Suicidality, self‐efficacy and mental health help‐seeking in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adults in Taiwan: A cross‐sectional study

“…According to literature reviews, depression was found to be prevalent in the sexual minority, which risk of depression was 2.6 times higher among gay men (Wang et al., 2014). Furthermore, research has shown that compared to heterosexuals, LGBT adolescents in America have 4–5 times greater odds of suicidal attempts stemming from bullying and discrimination in schools (Ahuja, 2016).…”