Do a lot of LGBTQ people also suffer from mental disorders?

It is always important to remember that this is a support and advice community at it's heart so, while the majority of the members do not suffer from mental disorders, emotional issues and disorders will naturally be more prevalent and openly discussed on this website then in the real world.

As far as psychological or neurological connections, no; there aren't any connections.

 

Really, I've seen several studies citing that gay men were more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, and if you looked it up, transgenders are far more likely than the general population to have contemplated or attempted suicide.

 

This isn't very scientific; but as far as OCD is concerned I've always found mine to be worsened by stress. Discovering who you are and coming out are pretty stressful processes that could worsen mental health issues and make them more noticeable?

 

There are studies that can confirm and refute the correlations you suggested. So it's inconclusive.

Also how many people are:

LGBT?
Diagnosed with something?

How many are recorded as both?

 

Well to start off, I think saying that LGBTQ people have more mental disorders because of it is getting correlation and causation mixed up. Yes, quite a few LGBTQ people suffer from some sort of mental or emotional disorders, maybe more of a percentage than that of straight cis people, but that does NOT mean that they suffer them because they are LGBTQ. Correlation is not causastion, and vice versa.

Me personally, I have not been diagnosed yet, but I think that I'm bipolar, and am looking on confronting my parents about it.

 

^ I feel like a lot of the anxiety and depression in the LGBTQ community stems from social factors, such as bullying, ostracization, peer pressure, or fear of having to face such when coming out. And those that choose not to come out because of those reasons are forced to bottle up all their emotions and hide who they really are, which is a major source of stress, and is bound to have aversive effects.

 

Well, yes and no. LGBTQ definitely a high risk social group for certain psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, and disorders connected to self-loathing; though those are all results of sociological influences; however, there is no correlation between orientation and neurological, intellectual, obsessive, genetic, or severe disability or disorders. Ultimately, I suppose it would just come down to the phrasing of my reply and the original post.

Anxiety, depression, and issues connected to self-esteem and self-loathing are more prevalent among LGBTQ for the struggles that are more common to us. But psychiatric disorders such as OCD, ADHD, MPD and other personality disorders, and mental disability are not, as they are not commonly a result of simply sociological factors.

 

Anxiety, OCD, bipolarity, I pretty much fit exactly what you're saying.

 

Oh, no. "And other personality disorders" was directed at Multiple Personality Disorder(s); not those proceeding it. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear.

Edit: To the second point, I agree that the social anxiety that can originate from being LGBTQ can be a catalyst for the progression of OCD; however, I feel that it would be uncommon for the disorder to originate solely from those anxieties. It can, but I wouldn't say that it is a common enough result to warrant it being described as a common effect of solely being LGBTQ.

 

I was diagnosed with OCD, PTSD, and panic disorder when I was 15, but I've been suffering with it since I was 8. I realized I liked the same sex when I was 14.

 

I have depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety. I don't think it has anything to do with my being LGBTQ.

 

I have Type II Bipolar and social anxiety. Not sure if it has to do with my sexuality or not...

 

Okay I want to share a personal belief about OCD. Two years ago (before I was aware about my feelings for other guys) I wanted to kill myself. My parents took me to a bunch of places and I was diagnosed by a doctor with OCD. That made no f***** sense to me. I don't have OCD. So I started to talk to other close friends about it and they all think they have/have been diagnosed with OCD. My mom says she has OCD, and nearly everyone I talk to THINKS they have OCD. It's like it's not even a mental disorder anymore.

I'm not saying people that DO have serious cases of OCD don't suffer. I'm saying that OCD symptoms are so easy to spot, that I bet if you took a group of doctors and 1000 random people off the street then the majority of people would be 'diagnosed' with OCD. My older sister used to think she was bipolar because she was 'diagnosed'. She's not bipolar. It doesn't affect her at all in daily life.

So yeah, my opinion is that if your 'mental disorder' doesn't affect your daily life, you don't have that mental disorder. I only say this because most people claim that they suffer from something when they don't. It's a little aggravating.

Lol, sorry for ranting.:smilewave

 

I don't know if there is a connection between LGBTQ and mental disorders. You gotta wonder how many of the people diagnosed have clinical and/or environmental symptoms.

There's also problems within the medical community. When I was 17 I explained my problems to a GP. I was shut up with anxiety/antidepressant tablets. Some doctors hand out antidepressants like candy. Placebo medicine? I didn't get help until I visited a mental hospital. It took them a little while. Did you know I'm apparently a depressed histrionic obsessive compulsive person with generalised anxiety? Turns out it's bipolar type 1.

You should google 'Rosenhan experiment'. It's pretty interesting.

 

I mean, when I was in the process of coming out I went to therapy, and if it had been anyone less caring she would have diagnosed me as depressed and OCD, because I was depressed and I was obsessive about my thoughts. But there was an underlying cause.

I am lucky that I don't have depression or OCD, and if I were diagnosed with them when the underlying cause was the stress of coming out, I would have called bullsh*t.

So maybe coming out is a stressful process that triggers other things below the surface, but I doubt theres a neurological link.

 

From what I've read, LGBT people are more likely to have certain mental disorders than straight/cis people. Gay people definitely have higher suicide and attempted suicide rates than straight people, and it's higher still for trans* people compared to cis people. There is a fairly strong correlation between higher incidents of mental disorders in gay people and fewer laws protecting LGBT people and it is thought that the reason for increased mental disorders is homophobia in society, which absolutely makes sense.

You'll also get even more people with issues (of all kinds, not necessarily diagnosed mental disorders) on this site because it's a support site and people with regular happy lives don't have as much of a need for it.

 

Yes, I have anxiety problem, but I had it long before I knew I was gay. It's not related.