STUDY: Young Gay Men Six Times More Likely To Attempt Suicide

The dark side of "It Gets Better."
From: NewNowNext

 Young gay and bisexual men under the age of 26 are six times more likely to attempt suicide or self-harm compared to men 45 and older, according to a new report in the Journal of Public Health.

The study, based on data from 5,799 gay and bi men gathered by the UK’s Stonewall Gay and Bisexual Men’s Health Survey, also indicated younger men were twice as likely to struggle with depression or anxiety.

 Older men, it’s believed, have had more time to develop coping strategies, construct support systems and remove themselves from homophobic environments.

“Minority groups are usually thought to be more homogenous than they actually are, when in fact there is great variation in health and life situations among this group,” said lead author Dr. Ford Hickson. “What’s clear is that health inequalities among gay and bisexual men mirror those in the broader society.”

Working at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Hickson and his team also reported that age, ethnicity, income and education level were all major factors in how interviewees classified their mental health.

There seems to be good reason to settle down: Men living with a partner were 50% less likely to suffer from depression as compared to single gay and bisexual men.

But black MSM were twice as likely to be depressed and five times more likely to have attempted suicide than white men, and those with lower income and less education reported more depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide attempts.

In April, Tennessee Governor signed a law allowing therapists and psychiatrists to turn away LGBT patients on religious grounds.