Nearly Half of LGBTQ Youth Considered Suicide in Last Year: Survey
A new survey of young LGBTQ individuals living in the U.S. found about 45 percent said they "seriously" thought about attempting suicide during the previous year.The findings demonstrate an "upward trend" over recent years in deliberations about suicide among LGBTQ individuals ages 13 to 24.
The survey is the fourth annual national review focusing on mental health among young LGBTQ individuals conducted by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide prevention nonprofit.Mental health concerns have been on the rise among American youth in recent years, according to data from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that assessed mental health in high school students. A CDC analysis published in March said the coronavirus pandemic "has created traumatic stressors that have the potential to further erode students' mental wellbeing," with about one-third of high school students saying they "experienced poor mental health" during the pandemic.
Mental health concerns were even greater for "lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and female youth," according to the March analysis.A Wednesday press release from The Trevor Project acknowledged the pandemic's ongoing effects on survey respondents."The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and relentless political attacks during this time period cannot be understated," Trevor Project CEO and Executive Director Amit Paley said in the release.The Trevor Project's first National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health was conducted from February to September 2018 and published in 2019.
