1. Mental Health in the
LGBT Community
Tiara Dicks, Kristen Gruenfelder,
Alexa Pace, and Em Riveles

2. Why this topic?
Education:
We want to learn more about
our sexualities and the
sexualities of others!

3. How can sexual identity affect
mental health? (a survey)
• Asked our online friends to fill out a survey
• This survey was not limited to only people
who identify with the LGBT community
• We were curious to hear the viewpoints of
those who identify as straight as well

4. Tiara Dicks, Kristen Gruenfelder,
Alexa Pace, and Em Riveles

5. Demographics

6. Demographics
11 respondents, 31%
5 respondents, 14%
7 respondents, 20%
5 respondents, 14%
3 respondents, 9%
2 respondents, 6%
2 respondents, 6%

7. Real Life Responses

13. Introduction
Now we will begin exploring
mental health in different
aspects of the community.

14. +
Psychoanalysis and
Homosexuality
By: Alexa Courtney Pace

15. + Two Theories of Homosexuality:
 Essentialist theories: argue that homosexuality is an
inborn; innate trait, likely due to biological or
developmental processes
 Constructionist theories: indicates that homosexuality
develops overtime and is most likely due to social forces.

16. +
Theoretical Bias
 Homosexuality was seen as a "borderline condition”
 An individual who did not regard it as a problem to be
cured was, "understood to be maintaining a perverse
denial of their pathology”
 Disturbance in the mind or in development

17. +

18. +  There is more to a person than just their sexual
orientation. Homosexuality is not the problem, it‟s
society‟s attitudes towards Homosexuality.
 When we do not understand something, we fear it and
judge
 Just because you understand it, does not mean it does
not exist!

19. + We need to do something!
 Heterosexism: discrimination and prejudice against gays,
lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders by heterosexual people
 E.g., Don‟t Ask Don‟t Tell, Media, Workplace
 Disclosure was not considered appropriate
 Discrimination and dealing with homophobia can affect a
person's health.

20. +

21. +

22. + Treating Homosexuality…
 Conversion therapy (also known as reparative therapy) is a
range of treatments that aim to change sexual orientation from
homosexual to heterosexual
 Aversion therapy is a form of psychological treatment in which
the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being
subjected to some form of discomfort. This conditioning is
intended to cause the patient to associate the stimulus with
unpleasant sensations in order to stop the specific behavior
(homosexuality).
 Aversion therapy was previously considered as a treatment for
homosexuality, but since 1994, the American Psychological
Association (APA) has declared that it is a dangerous practice
and does not work.

23. +

24. +
Religion and Homosexuality
 The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and
Islam have traditionally forbidden sodomy, believing
and teaching that such behavior is sinful.

25. +

26. +
Society and Homosexuality
 Antihomosexuality: in the culture forces gay people to
constantly think about „their‟ proper place. (1996, p. 233).
 We must recognize the crucial importance of the
experience of self-discovery for someone who senses
that his or her sexual desires are different from those of
peers.
 People confuse gender with sexual orientation. It does
not mean you are any less of a man if you are
homosexual and vice versa for Lesbians.

27. +
Society and Homosexuality Continued…
 It is tempting to find ourselves thinking about the apparent
„feminity passivity‟ of gay men or the „masculinity‟ of a lesbian.
 Stereotypes

28. +
Klein Sexual Orientation Grid
 “It is when the categories of “male” and “female” are seen as
absolute when sexuality is more complex than that.
 Klein developed a multidimensional grid for describing sexual
orientation.

29. +
The Reclassification of Homosexuality
 The American Psychological Association (APA) declassified
homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973
 Evelyn Hooker
 Demonstrated homosexuality is not psychopathological
 Although our society is becoming more open to the complexity
of sexual orientation, we know that depression, suicidal
feelings, and self-harm is considerably higher among members
of the LGBT community than among heterosexuals
(Chakraborty et al., 2011).
 This could be due to internalized feelings of homophobic
attitudes that leads to them feeling depressed.

30. Bisexual Mental Health
by Em Riveles

32. Bisexuality is defined as romantic and/or
sexual attraction to both men and women.
• Bisexuality falls under the umbrella term of
“homosexuality”, which used to be considered a mental
illness
• Even though homosexuality is no longer considered a
mental illness, people identifying as such are called a
“sexual minority”
• Any type of minority is subject to experience stigma and
prejudice

33. Numbers
• Bisexual women report significantly higher rates of
depressive symptoms than both lesbian and
heterosexual women
• LGB adolescents are twice as likely to attempt suicide
than their heterosexual counterparts
• LGB students are three and a half times more likely to
self-harm

34. Heteronormativity assumes that all
members of society are attracted to members of the
opposite sex.
• Even today, this is a rarely known concept.
• Heteronormativity places pressure on LGB (Lesbian,
gay, and bisexual) people to conform to society’s norms
• In classrooms, LGB students are often
exposed to heteronormative and even
homophobic ideals, leading to feelings of
isolation and oppression
• These feelings are associated with
depression, anxiety, chronic stress, eating
disorders, and substance abuse

36. “I’M NOT STRAIGHT!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZu1eDVtvHw
A YouTube video by KristenCorpse

37. Heteronormativity (continued)
• The process of “coming out” (revealing ones sexual
orientation) to the family of someone who is LGB can
be very difficult because often they are inherently
assumed to be straight
• This can lead to significant emotional distress and
mental illness such as depression and anxiety
• It is extremely important
for LGB issues to be talked
about to decrease stigma

38. Problems with Research and
Stigma
• In much of today’s research, all sexualities under the
LGBTQ umbrella are clumped together; this makes it
difficult to access information about specific
orientations.
• Much stigma surrounds the bisexual orientation. Many
people believe that bisexuality does not actually exist,
calling sexuals “confused” “greedy” or “sluts”

41. Transgenders and Mental Health
By: Alexa Pace

42. When Biological Sex is Unclear
• Intersexual: someone who is anatomically
somewhere along the continuum between a
male and female
• Hermaphrodite: individual is born with both
ovarian and testicular tissue or a combination
of an ovary and testicle into one structure =
ovatestes
– Only 350-450 known cases worldwide

43. Gender Identity
• Gender identity: our intuitive sense of what it
means to be a man or woman

44. Masculinity and Feminity

45. Transgender
• Transgender: is an umbrella term to describe
people who believe their biologically assigned
gender is a false or incomplete description of
themselves.
• Transsexual: is an individual whose sexual
identity is opposite the one assigned at birth.

46. Transgendered continued…
• Gender reassignment involves transsexual
men and women seeking to transition from
their gender of birth to the opposite gender
permanently
• Transvestites: an individual who acts in the
manner of a person of the opposite gender
– Cross-dressers
– Sexual orientation varies

47. Transgender at 11: Listening to Jazz
• https://www.youtube.com/results?search_qu
ery=transgender

48. Comparisons of Mental Health in
Heterosexuals vs. Homosexuals
Kristen Gruenfelder

49. Comparisons of Mental Health in
Heterosexuals vs. Homosexuals
Kristen Gruenfelder

50. Statistics

52. SELF HARM:
52% of homosexual youth
35% of heterosexual youth

53. SELF HARM:
52% of homosexual youth
35% of heterosexual youth

54. DEPRESSION:
42% of homosexual youth
29% of heterosexual youth

55. SUICIDAL IDEATION:
44% of homosexual youth
26% of heterosexual youth

56. SUICIDAL IDEATION:
44% of homosexual youth
26% of heterosexual youth

57. How is same-sex
experience associated with
changes in mental health
between adolescence and
young adulthood?

58. Homosexuals experience
greater levels of mental health
problems in adolescence

59. Transition later on?
Stigmatized role as “straight,”
Which is psychologically harmful!

60. Women have it worse!
Harsher mental health changes
due to minority status.

61. Men are treated more violently.
Sexual minority males face greater
stigma than adult females.

62. Same sex experience in
adolescence AND adulthood
= worse mental health!

63. Same-sex couples
Vs.
Heterosexual couples

64. In general, married couples
are usually healthier than
those who aren’t married.

65. Same sex partners > single
Same sex partners < straight partners

66. Gay men are 61% more likely
to have poor mental health

67. Gay women are 46% more likely
to have poor mental health

68. IN GENERAL,
RACE SHOWED NO VARIABILITY.
BUT…

69. THE EXCEPTION: BLACK WOMEN
Black women living with their female partners
had worse mental health than black women in
any other non-married status.

70. No significant difference between the
United States and the rest of the world.

71. What are the reasons for
greater mental health
problems in the LGBT
community?

72. Reasons:
1. Lack of acceptance >> bullying
2. Pain from pre and post “coming out”
3. Same-sex relationships are [on
average] less stable and shorter lived
4. Social pressures – “manly” or
“womanly” duties not fulfilled
5. Inadequate mental health services

73. Inadequate Mental
Health Services

74. LGBT Health Services from Community
Perspective

75. • Discrimination common among providers and
other clients
• Providers attributed to their sexual orientation
• Have to educate providers about basic sexual
identity and gender issues which is difficult when
already emotionally distressed
• Providers question their identity “If you have
children, how can you be a lesbian?”

76. Suggestions for Improvement by LGBT
Community
• Providers should receive training on how to
ask questions in a respectful way
• Knowing that some staff are openly a part of
the LGBT community
• Offer more groups specific to LGBT persons

77. LGBT Mental Health Services From
Provider Perspective

78. • Agencies have difficulty serving the needs of
transgender clients
-Not a lot of training on transgender issues
and lack of policy knowledge on how to treat
transgender clients appropriately
• There is a need for coordination of services
within and outside of mental health agencies
• Lack of effectiveness in connecting LGBT
clients to other LGBT individuals and groups

79. • Lack of available resources and professional
training opportunities to specifically address
the mental health needs of LGBT individuals
-Providers have to seek out training
themselves since it is not a part of standard
training programs

80. Suggestions for Improvement by
Providers
• LGBT clients would feel more comfortable or
welcomed at agencies that have openly LGBT
staff members

81. • Providers suggest making LGBT mental health
a priority in training programs and be included
in education curricula at a level to reach all
mental health professional
• 3500 medical students across North America
were surveyed in which 36% stated LGBT
curricula's at their schools were fair and 34%
rated it poor or very poor

82. • Instructions should be provided on the
distinctions between sexual orientation,
sexual behavior and gender identity as well as
how to ask about each one
• All providers should learn basic terminology
used to describe members of LGBT
communities

83. Conclusion
Members of the LGBT
community are faced with
mental illness more often than
those who identify as straight.

84. Conclusion
As counselors, let’s tackle this
issue together!