Suicide Risk Among LGBTQ Youth Is Dramatically Increased by Trauma.
According to a recent study, the more traumatized LGBTQIA+ adolescents are, the higher their risk of suicide may be.
The study's findings indicated that, compared to their classmates who had no or mild-to-moderate trauma symptoms, LGBTQ children had around a threefold higher risk of having attempted suicide in the previous year.
According to experts, this research serves as a much-needed wake-up call for society to provide greater protection and assistance for these young people.
The LGBTQIA+ youth community's safety and rights are being attacked at this challenging time in our nation, and the nonprofit The Trevor Project has just published a new study brief that looks at the impact trauma can have on this group of young people's risk of suicide.
This new data provides a clear insight into the detrimental consequences all of this trauma may have on the general mental health of these adolescents, adding to previous understanding of the higher presence of trauma-related events in the lives of LGBTQIA+ young people.
It particularly demonstrates how severely this affects the more marginalized segments of the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly those with intersecting identities, such as persons of color, transgender and nonbinary adolescents, and multi-sex people.
According to experts, this research serves as a much-needed wake-up call for society to provide stronger protections and support for these children, especially as they continue to navigate a culture that may at times appear unfriendly and unwelcoming.
A significant trauma level
The Trevor Project utilized information from its 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health to produce the findings. The national poll highlights 33,993 LGBTQ kids Nationwide's responses to a range of topics. They were between the ages of 13 and 24.
According to the new brief, 37% of these young people had "high levels of trauma symptoms."
The NGO discovered that the average number of trauma symptoms reported by LGBTQ adolescents was comparatively high at 11.72, out of a possible range of 4 to 16. Only 4% of these young people claimed to have never been affected by trauma symptoms.
Furthermore, 60% reported having "low to moderate" degrees of trauma symptoms.
The poll found that kids who identified as BIPOC (Black and Indigenous People of Color), multi-sex, or trans and nonbinary reported the greatest levels of trauma. According to the research, compared to 36% of their white counterparts, young BIPOC LGBTQ persons have higher levels of trauma symptoms in a whopping 37% of cases.
Native American and indigenous kids made up the largest percentage of young people of color (52%) followed by Middle Eastern/North African youth (44%) in that order.
The percentage of young people who self-reported having severe trauma symptoms was 29 percent for homosexual youth, 38 percent for lesbian youth, 33 percent for bisexual youth, 42 percent for queer youth, 43 percent for pansexual kids, and 38 percent for asexual youth. 38 percent of respondents indicated that they were "unsure" about their sexual orientation.
Compared to their cisgender LGBQ classmates, who reported high levels of trauma symptoms at a rate of 25%, transgender and nonbinary kids reported high rates of trauma symptoms at a rate of 44%.
The figures remained the same across all age ranges. Ages 13 to 17 were at 36 percent, while 18 to 24 year old were at a comparable rate of 37 percent.
Compared to their classmates who reported either no trauma symptoms or low-to-moderate trauma symptoms, LGBTQ kids who reported high levels of trauma symptoms had nearly a three times greater chance of attempting suicide in the previous year, according to the study.
Only 3% of kids without trauma symptoms reported attempting suicide in the previous year, compared to one out of every four youth with severe self-reported trauma symptoms. In the same time frame, about 9% of those with mild to moderate trauma symptoms reported trying to commit suicide.
Trauma symptoms were linked to an increased prevalence of recent suicide attempts across all demographics, including those that span racial and ethnic boundaries, sexual orientations, and gender identities.
When asked what she found most unexpected about the survey results, Myeshia Price (pronouns she/they), Ph.D. senior research scientist at The Trevor Project, responded, "The link that we identified between trauma and suicide risk was predicted. However, it was shocking to see that LGBTQ children who had high levels of trauma symptoms had more than three times the likelihood of having attempted suicide in the previous year.
When asked why this particular group of young people in the US exhibits such high levels of trauma symptoms, Price responded to Healthline by stating that much LGBTQ youth may frequently experience trauma due to "discrimination and victimization" that is directly related to their sexual orientation and gender identities.
A simple example of this would be "being denied entrance to a certain area because of one's gender identification" rather than actual bodily injury based on sexual orientation. Simply put, these are things that "straight, cisgender adolescents" may never have to go through, Price continued.
That being said, she emphasized that LGBTQ adolescents are not intrinsically vulnerable to trauma but are frequently exposed to it as a result of the stigma associated with their identities in society.
Without being involved in this study, Kyle T. Ganson, Ph.D. MSW, an assistant professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Societal Work at the University of Toronto, told Healthline that these young people deal with "many social pressures" that are directly related to their gender identity.
According to Ganson, victimization, prejudice, and bullying can lead to "bad psychological health, such as trauma-related symptoms."
"These symptoms might include being on high alert, experiencing nightmares, having persistently unpleasant thoughts, and feeling unsafe. Despite being harmful, these symptoms are meant to shield or provide the kid a false sense of safety since they are a direct reaction to negative and traumatic social experiences, the expert continued.
Communities of color are more vulnerable.
In comparison to their cisgender and white counterparts, young people of color, as well as multi-sex, transgender, and nonbinary persons endure higher degrees of trauma in their daily lives, according to Price.
The Minority Stress Model is frequently cited by The Trevor Project to help explain the inequalities in mental health that LGBTQ people encounter. According to this model, incidents of LGBTQ-based victimization — and the internalization of these experiences and anti-LGBTQ messages — can compound and have a severe impact on the LGBTQ community's mental health as well as their risk of suicide, Price said.
The authors continued, "In particular in our current polarizing and frequently politically hostile environment, LGBTQ youth who hold multiple marginalized identities may experience discrimination and victimization based not only on their sexual orientation or gender identity, but also on their race, ethnicity, and/or a number of other aspects that make up their full selves.
The poll confirms prior studies, according to Ganson, that holding numerous, intersecting minority identities "may worsen the consequences of minority-related stresses," which can compound "the negative and harmful outcomes, such as trauma and anxiety-related symptoms."
These young people are attempting to negotiate difficult social conditions in which they are frequently marginalized because of their gender identities and racial and ethnic identities. Youth who are looking for a sense of identity and social approval may find this particularly difficult, Ganson continued.
"Of course, many people find this stressful, and it may have negative psychological impacts. Additionally, these adolescents may be less likely to seek mental health therapy out of concern that they won't get sufficient and supportive care, which might cause their symptoms to worsen and become more ingrained.
Of obviously, the association between trauma and increased risk of suicide is alarming. According to Ganson, experiencing traumatic sensations again on a daily basis might be difficult for certain people, particularly for "those who don't receive sufficient care."
"As a result, these adolescents may turn to drastic and hazardous measures to treat their problems. According to him, this can show up as both suicidal behaviors like planning and attempting suicide as well as non-suicidal self-harming behaviors like cutting. Since the severity of the trauma symptoms is probably at times intolerable, it is expected that people who have more of them will exhibit a larger degree of suicidal conduct.
According to Ganson, for some individuals, suicide may seem like "the only means to end the misery they are going through." They can also think that the only option to "remove oneself from social circumstances that create trauma" is by committing suicide.
"They could internalize the idea that, because of the identities they have and the difficulties they might be facing, they are a burden to others. In order to successfully help children and raise general safety, it is crucial to comprehend the special and particular relationship between trauma, mental health symptoms, and suicide behavior for each young person, according to Ganson.
Social Plugin