A study in the United Kingdom has revealed the alarming statistic that young, British gay and bisexual men are six times more likely to attempt suicide than older men.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) analyzed 6000 responses from a survey taken by bisexual and gay men that was designed to find out how factors such as ethnicity, age and income affects mental disorders like depression, anxiety and likelihood of suicidal thoughts.
According to The Independent, men under the age of 26 are twice as likely to suffer from depression and disturbingly that jumps to six times more likely to attempt suicide or self harm than those over the age of 45.
Dr. Ford Hickson, a public health professor at LSHTM and lead author of the study, says that the results also indicate that those who are black, poor, or less educated are even more susceptible to feeling depressed and committing suicide.
“Minority groups are usually thought to be more homogeneous then they actually are, when, in fact, there is great variation in health and life situations among this group. What’s clear is that health inequalities among gay and bisexual men mirror those in the broader society.”
It has previously been assumed that younger people in the LGBT community were less prone to mental health issues because of the ongoing lack of stigma due to changing attitudes in general society. However, it is thought that older men may be able to cope with discrimination and homophobic reaction better and that may experience it less than younger men. This may be due to bullying especially at school that older men don’t get endured to.
Hickson says the results hope to help towards targetting specific demographics where support is needed most.
“Poor mental health is not evenly distributed across race, income, or education. We must ensure that access to life-changing support services are targeted to where they are needed most.”
The findings were published in the Journal of Public Health.