Seek Affirming Support for Depression

LGBTIQ individuals are less likely to seek and less likely to receive culturally appropriate, patient centered support for depression and other mental health conditions. If you are experiencing depression or anxiety please seek help. On this website are resourses to refer you to affirming on-line or in person support across the country.

I lost my best friend in graduate school to suicide, because he did not have affirming support. It was devestating to lose a brilliant young man with such promise, because of sexual orientation issues. I think of him everyday.

If your friend expresses thoughts of suicide seek immediate assistance.
This is part of a Scottish National Campaign on mental health issues. This segment is targetinging the LGBTIQ community. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSKZNYHoW1I&feature=youtu.be

One in the series of short films that 'see me' has produced to raise awareness of mental health and the stigma still too often associated with mental health problems. This film explores mental health issues, sexual orientation and gender identity.

U.S. Panel Suggests Research Into Causes and Prevalence of Health Issues Facing Gays

By ROBERT PEAR Published: March 31, 2011, reposted at http://www.keystothecloset.blogger.com/ and http://www.darkestcloset.blogger.com/

WASHINGTON — The federal government should systematically collect demographic data on gay, lesbian and transgender people and should conduct biomedical research to understand why they are more likely to have certain chronic conditions, the National Academy of Sciences said Thursday.

In a report requested by the National Institutes of Health, the academy proposed an ambitious research agenda to investigate the prevalence and causes of obesity, depression, cancer, heart disease and other conditions among gay people.

Federal officials had asked the academy’s Institute of Medicine to identify gaps in research on the health of gay Americans. Dr. Robert O. Graham, the chairman of the panel that did the study, said that was impossible.

“The available evidence on the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people is sparse,” said Dr. Graham, a professor of family medicine at the University of Cincinnati. “Researchers need to do much more than simply filling gaps.”

The panel, appointed by the Institute of Medicine, said the government should finance research to develop standardized measures of sexual orientation and gender identity — “one’s basic sense of being a man, woman or other gender, such as transgender.”

Gay people often face “barriers to equitable health care,” decline to seek care in times of need and receive substandard care when they seek it, the report said.

“Fearing discrimination and prejudice,” it said, “many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people refrain from disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity to researchers and health care providers.”

In addition, the report said, many doctors lack the necessary training. “Medical schools teach very little about sexuality in general and little or nothing about the unique aspects of lesbian, gay and bisexual health,” it said.

The panel said the National Institutes of Health should strongly encourage researchers to include “sexual and gender minorities” in studies whenever possible, just as they include women, blacks, Asian-Americans and Hispanics.

In its report, which offers a comprehensive survey of information about the health of gay Americans, the panel made these points:

·          “On average, men tend to show greater interest in sex and express a desire to engage in sex more frequently than women. These patterns appear to occur in both heterosexual and homosexual populations.”

·          Gay youths and adults are typically well adjusted and mentally healthy, but some research indicates that they are more likely to be depressed, have suicidal thoughts and attempt suicide.

·          “Lesbians and bisexual women may be at higher risk for breast cancer than heterosexual women.”

·          Some studies suggest that long-term use of hormone therapy by transgender people may increase their risk for cancer, but more research is needed.

·          In addition, the report said, “Some research suggests that lesbians and bisexual women have a higher risk of obesity than heterosexual females.” Lesbians may also have higher rates of smoking and alcohol consumption than heterosexual women, it said.

A version of this article appeared in print on April 1, 2011, on page A16 of the New York edition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/health/policy/01gays.html?_r=1&ref=research

Health Disparities Among Older LGBTIQ Community

By RONI CARYN RABIN Published: April 1, 2011

Older lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in California are more likely to suffer from chronic physical and mental health problems than their heterosexual counterparts, a new analysis has found. They also are less likely to have live-in partners or adult children who can help care for them.

Related :U.S. Panel Suggests Research Into Causes and Prevalence of Health Issues Facing Gays (April 1, 2011)

The research brief was based on data from the California Health Interview Survey gathered in 2003, 2005 and 2007 by the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Older gay and bisexual men — ages 50 to 70 — reported higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and physical disability than similar heterosexual men. Older gay and bisexual men also were 45 percent more likely to report psychological distress and 50 percent more likely to rate their health as fair or poor. In addition, one in five gay men in California was living with H.I.V. infection, the researchers found. Yet half of older gay and bisexual men lived alone, compared with 13.4 percent of older heterosexual men.  

Older lesbian and bisexual women experienced similar rates of diabetes and hypertension compared with straight women of their age, but reported significantly more physical disabilities and psychological distress and were 26 percent more likely to say their health was fair or poor.

More than one in four lived alone, compared with only one in five heterosexual women.

Steven P. Wallace, associate director of the U.C.L.A. Center for Health Policy Research and lead author of the brief, said it was important to raise awareness of these disparities. “The gay culture tends to be youth-driven, and the aging community network doesn’t usually think about gay and lesbian elders,” he said.

A version of this article appeared in print on April 5, 2011, on page D7 of the New York edition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/health/research/05gay.html?_r=1 Reprinted at http://keystothecloset.blogspot.com/ and http://darkestcloset.blogspot.com/

Gays Targeted for Hate Crimes

SPLC’s Intelligence Report: Gays Targeted for Hate Crimes Far More Than Any Other Minority in America

Homosexuals are far more likely to be victims of a violent hate crime than any other minority group in the United States, according to a new analysis of federal hate crime statistics in the latest issue of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, released today.

The SPLC’s analysis of 14 years of hate crime data found that homosexuals, or those perceived to be gay, are more than twice as likely to be attacked in a violent hate crime as Jews or blacks; more than four times as likely as Muslims; and 14 times as likely as Latinos. The findings are based on FBI hate crime statistics from 1995 to 2008, the period for which there is complete data. The basic pattern also holds true in individual years.

Winter 2010 issue of the SPLC's Intelligence Report

The analysis is being released to coincide with the scheduled release of the FBI’s hate crime statistics for 2009.
These findings come as a wave of anti-gay attacks have washed across the country. In New York, for example, 10 suspects were arrested for brutally torturing three gay victims. And in Covington, Ky., a neighborhood was hit by a series of violent anti-gay attacks. Most dramatically, four teenagers committed suicide in September after being bullied, taunted or outed as homosexuals.

This analysis of hate crime data can be found in the Winter 2010 issue of the Intelligence Report, which also explores how the hard-core anti-gay movement in America is becoming more extreme in the face of gay rights advances.
“As Americans become more accepting of homosexuals, the most extreme elements of the anti-gay movement are digging in their heels and continuing to defame gays and lesbians with falsehoods that grow more incendiary by the day,” said Mark Potok, editor of the Intelligence Report. “The leaders of this movement may deny it, but it seems clear that their demonization of homosexuals plays a role in fomenting the violence, hatred and bullying we’re seeing.”