LGBTQ+ & Mental Health
In this essay, I will successfully discuss and support the claim that LGBTQ+ children and adults should have accessibility to counseling services, regardless of their sexuality or the laws of the states that they reside in. I will use evidence and research conducted by experts within this field, and use this data to support my claim that LGBTQ+ children and adults should have accessibility to counseling services, and I will also provide evidence explaining the detriments of conversion therapy and the impacts that this harmful form of “treatment” has caused LGBTQ+ members throughout our history. In providing this information, I am hopeful that we can create an inclusive and respectful future of mental health services that target and work to helping the gay community, as their mental health struggles have historically led to high suicide rates.
Therapists should not discriminate against LGBTQ+ children or adults seeking counseling or gender affirming care. As a counselor, it is an individual’s obligation to provide care and counseling with client patient confidentiality, and this should be available to all people who need counseling, regardless of their sexuality or gender. Choosing to not perform care or help people who need it, regardless of their sexual orientation is a basic right that no person should lose out on simply but what they identify as. I will explore topics such as conversion therapy, studies conducted that explain how mental health impacts individuals based on sexual orientation and age, and the benefits of counseling and how this can impact quality of life for LGBTQ+ individuals.
LGBTQ+ children are more likely to struggle with mental illness and suicidal ideation, and should have accessibility to counseling and care. As a child, if you break your arm, you go to the doctor to have it repaired, put into a cast and examined in order for it to heal correctly. Similarly, when you are dealing with mental health issues, it is vital that you seek counseling and therapy services in order to process these emotions and heal from them. If you do not, they will remain in your body and manifest into deeper and more unbearable symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression.
In a statistical study conducted by British Cohort Study 2012, Health Survey for England 2011, 2012 and 2013, Scottish Health Survey 2008 to 2013, Longitudinal Study of Young People in England 2009/10 and Understanding Society 2011/12, it shares that, “ Of 94,818 participants, 1.1 % identified as lesbian/gay, 0.9 % as bisexual, 0.8 % as ‘other’ and 97.2 % as heterosexual. Adjusting for a range of covariates, adults who identified as lesbian/gay had higher prevalence of common mental disorder when compared to heterosexuals, but the association was different in different age groups: apparent for those under 35 (OR = 1.78, 95 % CI 1.40, 2.26), weaker at age 35–54.9 (OR = 1.42, 95 % CI 1.10, 1.84), but strongest at age 55+ (OR = 2.06, 95 % CI 1.29, 3.31). These effects were stronger for bisexual adults, similar for those identifying as ‘other’, and similar for 'low wellbeing, (BMC Psychiatry 1).” This study articulates that LGBTQ+ adults pooled within this study had very poor mental health compared to their homosexual counterparts within the study. We can safely come to the conclusion that this study reflects the detriments and judgements that LGBTQ+ members face throughout their lifetime, and are also able to speculate that if these adults had access to proper counseling and mental health care in their youth, they may not have such poor mental health practices in their adulthood. This further proves the claim that LGBTQ+ adults and minors should be provided mental health counseling and services in order to live a better quality of life, or a life equivalent to what may be available to their homosexual counterparts in society.
Previous attempts of converting LGBTQ+ members throughout history detail a very disturbing practice filled with indoctrination and abuse, which is a topic that we must learn from and prevent moving forward. As explained by the Human Rights Campaign, “Some right-wing religious groups promote the concept that an individual can change their sexual orientation or gender identity, either through prayer or other religious efforts, or through so-called "reparative" or "conversion" therapy. The research on such efforts has disproven their efficacy, and also has indicated that they are affirmatively harmful. Beyond studies focused solely on reparative therapy, broader research clearly demonstrates the significant harm that societal prejudice and family rejection has on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, particularly youth, (HRC 1).” Conversion tactics to treat homosexuality are ineffective and can leave long lasting mental health issues within the individuals forced into this type of treatment, which can have the exact opposite impact that counseling and therapy would provide. Instead of viewing differences as something that should be scrubbed away or changed, they should be viewed as another factor that can help a person feel authentic to themselves, and these differences should be celebrated, not ashamed.
In researching the impacts that being gay in our society can have on LGBTQ+ individuals, these members deserve to have open access to therapy and counseling methods, as learning how to come to terms with their identity and love themselves in a world that may make them feel self hatred would improve life quality and create a healthier atmosphere for all people within society. All people deserve to have access to counseling, as mental health is the root of all of our emotions and feelings, and if these are not resolved through therapy, they can manifest into anger, depression, anxiety, or violence.
Some individuals feel that it is offensive to provide care to assist people that are LGBTQ+ because being gay and representing this lifestyle does not align with their religious or moral views. While people should have the right to feel safe and comfortable within their places of work, simply existing in a body that is homosexual is and should not be enough of a factor for someone to refuse to provide that person care. If we start allowing rules to be set where people can refuse business or care to LGBTQ+ members, we are allowing space for bullying and abuse to take place, along LGBTQ+ members being outcasted and treated poorly within their community. No one should feel unsafe existing in their bodies, and rules that allow people to discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals are closer to bullying than to providing an actual precedent to move forward with. The Human Rights Campaign states, “According to a recent report by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, an estimated 20,000 LGBTQ minors in states without protections will be subjected to conversion therapy by a licensed healthcare professional if state officials fail to act.” This problem is still very present and presents a threat to children as they will not be protected and will be subjected to harmful and detrimental practices in order to attempt to change their identity. Regardless of your personal beliefs, no children should be forced to conform to what state politicians deem to be “normal” without any forms of protection to shield them from the violences that they can potentially face.
All people should have the opportunity and ability to access counseling and therapy to improve their mental health, just as all people should have access to healthcare and living in their best and most comfortable bodies while they experience time here on Earth. It should not be a privilege to be healthy and mentally stable, and counselors should not have the right to deny someone that opportunity. Offering mental health services and care without discrimination towards an individual's race, sexual orientation or identification, or gender is one way that we can improve the quality of life for all individuals within society; and will inherently create an atmosphere of acceptance, love, and will lower suicide rates and create better mental health for society overall.
Works Cited
Maccio, E. (2011). Self-reported sexual orientation and identity before and after sexual reorientation therapy. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 15(3), 242-259.
Schroeder, M., & Shidlo, A. (2002). Ethical issues in sexual orientation conversion therapies: An empirical study of consumers. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy, 5(3/4), 131-166.
The Lies and Dangers of Efforts to Change Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, 20 May 2020, https://www.hrc.org/resources/the-lies-and-dangers-of-reparative-therapy?utm_medium=ads&utm_source=GoogleSearch&utm_content=ConversionTherapy-General&utm_campaign=GoogleGrant&utm_source=GS&utm_medium=AD&utm_campaign=BPI-HRC-Grant&utm_content=627545435753&u. Accessed 7 July 2023.
Weiss, E. M., Morehouse, J., Yeager, T., & Berry, T. (2010). A qualitative study of ex-gay and ex-ex-gay experiences. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 14(4), 291-319.
“Gender dysphoria - Symptoms and causes.” Mayo Clinic, 26 February 2022, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gender-dysphoria/symptoms-causes/syc-20475255. Accessed 7 July 2023.
“Psychiatry.org - What is Gender Dysphoria?” American Psychiatric Association, https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria. Accessed 7 July 2023.
“Sexual orientation and symptoms of common mental disorder or low wellbeing: combined meta-analysis of 12 UK population health surveys - BMC Psychiatry.” BMC Psychiatry, 24 March 2016, https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-016-0767-z. Accessed 7 July 2023.
