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Mental health matters

Mental health is about your emotional, psychological and social well-being. This includes how we think, feel, and act and also helps determine how we manage stress, relate to others, and make choices. Many factors contribute to mental health and problems which may occur, including biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry; life experiences, such as trauma or abuse; and/ or family history of mental health problems.

Change is slow but happening

While attitudes towards LGBT+ mental health is improving many LGBT+ people have experienced difficulties in their lives. Being gay does not, in and of itself, cause mental health problems. Research studies including LGBT in Britain, Stonewall (2018); Hidden Figures, LGBT Foundation (2020); and LGBT+ Health Inequalities, UK Parliament (2018)  clearly evidence that LGBT+ people have less favourable health outcomes than their heterosexual counterparts. Instead, homophobic bullying, rejection from family, harassment at work and poor responses from healthcare professionals are still commonplace for many lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Short answer: LGBT+ people are disproportionately affected by mental health issues. 

It's not easy to say this here

As we emerge from the pandemic, LGBT+ people accessing health services are doing so at a time when there is less funding, more cuts than ever before, and longer waiting lists. Yes, there's a lot of government hoopla about more money being put into mental health services but how quickly will this happen and when will it reach the LGBT+ community.

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Finding a counsellor or therapist | MEN R US
London drug, alcohol and chemsex support | MEN R US

Just Like Us releases Growing up LGBT+ report on bullying, schools and mental health | Just Like Us | Nov 2021

Growing Up Gay In A Small Town | BBC Sesh | 20 Dec 2019 | 4m 58s
Growing up gay in a straight world: Olly Alexander | BBC Three | 6 Mar 2019 | 3m 34s