Factors affecting LGBTI people

Queer young people

Around 10 per cent of young Australians experience same-sex attraction, most realising this around puberty.³ They may be more likely to experience bullying at school and/or greater difficulty connecting with others. In an Australian study, 61 per cent of young non-heterosexual people reported experiencing verbal abuse and 18 per cent reported physical abuse.⁴

Young LGBTIQ+ people with a history of verbal, sexual and/or physical victimisation and abuse have higher levels of social and mental health problems than heterosexual young people – including sexual risk-taking, dangerous use of alcohol and drugs, dropping out of school, homelessness, self-harm and attempted suicide.

Lesbians and other women attracted to women

The Rainbow Women and Help Seeking Research Report identified that lesbian and bisexual women and women who identify with other sexual orientations such as asexual and pansexual have high rates of stress, distress, depression and anxiety.

Other research shows that bisexual and lesbian women experience higher levels of diagnosis or treatment for a mental health condition compared to women attracted to the opposite sex.

Gay men and other men attracted to men

Compared to heterosexual men, gay and bisexual men are more likely to experience depression and anxiety conditions, and younger men seem to be at a higher risk of depression than older gay men.

Many gay men living with HIV have lost relationships, social support networks, careers, earning capacity and a sense of future. These multiple losses make them more likely to develop depression and may also compound symptoms. Almost 50 per cent of gay men living with HIV in Australia report feeling depressed.⁵

Bisexual people

Studies of bisexual people consistently show that they have even higher rates of depression or depressive symptoms than same-sex attracted people.⁶

One Australian study⁴ found that bisexual respondents reported higher psychological distress scores than same sex attracted people, and bisexual women had the lowest resilience scores. Bisexual people also had the highest rates of diagnosis or treatment for mental conditions. With harassment or abuse a key risk factor for poorer mental health, a third of bisexual people also reported experiencing harassment in the previous twelve months.

Transgender and gender diverse people

The prevalence of depression and anxiety among transgender communities is higher than for other lesbian, gay and bisexual people.

In an Australian survey of LGBTIQ+ people, around 60 per cent of transgender males and 50 per cent of transgender females reported having depression. A 2007 survey of Australian and New Zealand transgender people found that almost 90 per cent had experienced at least one form of stigma or discrimination, including verbal abuse, social exclusion, receiving lesser treatment due to their name or sex on documents, physical threats and violence.⁷ Almost two thirds of participants reported modifying their activities due to fear of stigma or discrimination.⁸ People experiencing a greater number of different types of discrimination were more likely to report being currently depressed.⁹

Beyond Blue funded Australia’s first Trans Mental Health Study, which found that trans¹⁰ people experience very high levels of depression and anxiety.

Intersex people

There are few studies of mental health in intersex people¹¹. One Australian survey of people with intersex variations shows that while most respondents rated their mental health as good or better, almost two thirds of people had thought about suicide and one in five had attempted suicide.

Sources of psychological stress can include confusion about sexual identity and gender roles, and treatment issues such as surgery at a young age, surgery without informed consent, and lack of disclosure from parents and health carers. Research has shown that two thirds of people who are intersex had experienced discrimination due to the intersex status.