LGBTQIA+ students are more likely to suffer from depressive disorders than their peers, according to a new study from the United States. However, the problem is not limited to America. The lead author of the analysis talks about the “growing mental health crisis” among students.
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The report, published Nov. 12 in the Journal of American College Health, is based on a 2007-2022 survey of more than 483,000 full-time American college students ages 18 to 35.
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A crisis that requires “immediate attention”.
Researchers have found that people who identify as LGBTQIA+ make up about a fifth of all students and currently about half of those who experience depression at university. The report cites experiences of discrimination and a lack of sense of belonging as key contributing factors. LGBTQIA+ students were twice as likely to seek treatment as their peers, but were also twice as likely to seek support from family members.
“Our results indicate a growing mental health crisis among LGBTQIA + students that requires urgent attention,” said the lead author of the new report, David Pagliaccio, a psychologist at Columbia University and the New York State Institute of Psychiatry, quoted in Medical Xpress. According to the authors of the report, educational institutions should take specific measures to eliminate the disparity in the mental health of students.
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“A trend seen around the world”
Inequalities in mental health can be seen not only in the United States, notes Ru Ávila Rodríguez of IGLYO, an international organization of LGBTQI youth and students, in an interview with Euronews. – This is a trend that can be observed all over the world wherever such research is conducted, – he noted.
An IGLYO study of LGBTQI youth aged 14 to 30 in Europe found that the school environment had a negative impact on the mental health of more than half of respondents. – With the growing depression of LGBTQI people, it is important that strategies (universities) take this into account, prioritize these communities and create support strategies, said Rodríguez.
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American College of Health Journal, Medical Xpress, Euronews
Main image source: Shutterstock
