Survey shows alarming anxiety rates
LGBT Australians are experiencing worrying levels of depression and anxiety, a national study has found.
The La Trobe University study 鈥� Private Lives 2 (PL2) 鈥� which surveyed more than 4000 LGBT people, found almost 80 percent of participants ha
d experienced at least one episode of intense anxiety in the last 12 months.
More than a quarter of respondents had been diagnosed with, or treated for, an anxiety disorder during that same time.
La Trobe lead researcher Liam Leonard said discrimination was likely to be to be a key factor in the result.
鈥淲hile the research documents show an increased acceptance of GLBT people and marginal improvements in their general health, it also shows GLBT people continue to experience much higher levels of abuse and discrimination,鈥� Leonard said.
鈥淎 likely outcome of this is the poorer mental health participants had compared with the population at large.鈥�
It鈥檚 the second time the wide-ranging study on LGBT health and wellbeing has been conducted. The first Private Lives study was released in 2006 and was, at that time, the largest survey of its kind anywhere in the world.
This year鈥檚 study, which involved participants ranging from 16 to 89 years old, also found people aged 16 – 24 were more likely than any other age group to hide their sexuality or gender identity.
Many respondents said they would 鈥榦ccasionally鈥� or 鈥榰sually鈥� hide their sexuality or gender identity for fear of heterosexist violence or discrimination, 44 percent said they would hide it in public, and 33.6 percent when accessing health services.
The report found that while more than three quarters of respondents said they saw a GP regularly, only 69 percent said their GP knew about their sexuality.
In terms of general health, both men and women scored lower than the national average, while trans men and women reported the lowest levels of general health.
Depression and anxiety were the most common health conditions, with depression rates soaring up to 50 percent in trans men.
Trans men and women also reported the highest levels of psychological distress.
Rates of drug use were also higher than the national average, with almost a quarter of participants reporting they used marijuana in the past 12 months.
Beyondblue chair Jeff Kennett, who helped launch the findings on Tuesday, said the national depression initiative will launch an awareness campaign in the coming months to address the 鈥渄isturbing鈥� statistics in the report.
鈥淭his research strengthens our resolve to continue our work with this community to reduce discrimination and improve help-seeking,鈥� Kennett said.
The research was funded by beyondblue, the Movember Foundation, the Victorian Department of Health, and La Trobe University.
Victorian Mental Health Minister Mary Wooldridge also helped launch the report.
How about “NGLBTI”? “N” is for nudist. Isn’t nudity also an identity issue?
its about time the exclusive G&L opened it eyes on the inequalities in our queer communities.
well darrrrr
“In terms of general health, both men and women scored lower than the national average, while trans men and women reported the lowest levels of general health.”
anyway back to gay marriage right?
what survey. funny how WA trans were not told about this survey. so it cant be Australia wide then
Why doesn’t the GLRL change its name to include gender diverse and transexual people?
Given the fact that the trans community suffers the most out of all sectors in of LGBTIQ community, it is such a shame that LGBTIQ organisations have completely ignored these very obvious health issues with the trans issues for a long.
The numbers of people in the trans community affected by severe anxiety & depression is most likely a lot higher than what is shown in this report and the reason why is because many trans people won’t have anything to do with any LGB based group. Ours are gender issues, not sexual orientation issues. So this is why the trans community has to reclaim the T to have these issues addressed. If we donlt then someone else will get the funding to tackle these issues this and the trans community won’t see a single cent.
Oh BobS, you poor dear, woe is you.
Name me a single right that has been denied to Christians as a direct, or indirect, result of the gay rights movement. Just one.
Bobs what “rights” have you christians been losing? Id love to hear your tales of woe (not).
Oh dear Bob S and oh you poor Christians! But which Christians are those? ‘We’? There are so many brands aren’t there? You see Bob S, some Christians just can’t help poke their noses in other people’s business and that is the big difference between religious and non-religious people. I couldn’t give a stuff what you do with your religion on a Sunday or any other day of the week, but you religious ones want to interfere with HOW OTHER PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE THEIR LIVES! Also, we live in a secular state and religion should not interfere and has no right to interfere in the rights of other people. Sorry if you don’t recognise my relationship of 26 years, but I and my partner do! We are citizens, taxpayers and should have no more rights than your crowd does but we should have the ‘same’ EQUAL RIGHTS!
If discrimination is a significant cause, why dont bible believing christians have the same problem? As homosexuals have been gaining rights, we christians have been losing them.
Been there, done that! “When the going get’s tough, the tough get going”
People with a great burden of guilt are always more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression
Really interesting
Cant believe that 80% of participants had experienced at least one episode of intense anxiety in the last 12 months