Mental health problem is known to be caused by environmental issues, which affected a lot by social stratification. There are a lot of factors which determine social stratification, such as sex, race, social class, nationality.. and I would focus on sexual minority; gender and sexual orientation issue.
It is undeniable truth that social minorities are more likely to get mental health issues, as they experience a various discrimination. Especially it comes severe to sexual minorities; LGBTs. Those who identify themselves not as they were named to, how they are more likely to get mental issues?
I interviewed a TCC student who asked be named — I’ll call her as ‘anon.’ Anon is an international student and she has been suffering from depression and anxiety issues caused by her homophobic family. Her parents were very religious people and when they found out that their daughter was lesbian, they tried to send her to the hospital because they thought that her sexual orientation is something to be fixed. She was sick of homophobic atmosphere of her country and came to the U.S. with her dreams that it would be a better place for her, but she said she was deeply frustrated when she met her homestay host family. When they talked about Bruce Jenner, who came out as a transgender woman and is Caitlyn Jenner now, they made a big sigh and terrible comments about her. She said she didn’t feel safe there and felt terrified, because she already had a traumatic experience with her family. At the end of the interview, she added, “My dream is to be living in somewhere I feel completely safe and comfortable. That’s all I need.”
As we have seen, this society is not a safe place for LGBTs. According to “Mental Health Promotion for Gender Minority Adolescents,” “for gender minority teens, the risk of poor mental health and suicide is greatly amplified. Gender minority adolescents report higher rates of depressive symptoms, suicide attempts, and self-harm compared to their cisgender (i.e., individuals whose gender identity is congruent with their assigned sex at birth) peers (Eisenberg et al., 2017). Three recent studies of gender minority adolescents, including clinical and non-clinical samples, found similarly high rates of suicidal ideation (approximately 60%) and suicide attempts (approximately 33%) (Bechard, VanderLaan, Wood, Wasserman, & Zucker, 2017; Eisenberg et al., 2017; Veale, Watson, Peter, & Saewyc, 2017). In addition, studies demonstrate that gender minority adolescents have higher rates of depression and anxiety (Reisner, Katz-Wise, Gordon, Corliss, & Austin, 2016), eating disorders (Connolly et al., 2016), autism spectrum disorders (de Vries, Noens, Cohen-Kettenis, van Berckelaer-Onnes, & Doreleijers, 2010; van der Miesen, Hurley, & de Vries, 2016), and substance abuse (Day, Fish, Perez-Brumer, Hatzenbuehler, & Russell, 2017; Reisner, Greytak, Parsons, & Ybarra, 2015) than cisgender adolescents.”
When it come to transgender, things are even worse; according to “Mental Health and the Transgender Population,” studies have consistently shown an increased rate of SI and suicide attempts (SA) in the TGNC population, ranging anywhere from 25% to 76% ( Clements-Nolle et al., 2006 ; Grant et al., 2001; Kenagy, 2005 ; Krehely, 2009 ; Nuttbrock et al., 2010 ; Xavier, Honnold, & Bradford, n.d. ). The wide variation in rates is likely due to different definitions of SI/SA and small sample sizes in many studies. A large community survey by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found a disturbingly high rate of suicide attempts, with 41% of the 6,500 TGNC respondents reporting a history of attempts ( Grant et al., 2011 ).
But also, there are a lot of journals that found out family acceptance is the key for lgbt adolescents and young adults to avoid mental health and stay in the healthy life. In “Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults”, a recent study assessed the relationship between family rejection in adolescence and the health of LGBT young adults (Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009). That study showed clear associations between parental rejecting behaviors during adolescence and the use of illegal drugs, depression, attempted suicide, and sexual health risk by LGBT young adults. It means that the family or the society accepts those minorities and embrace them, mental health issues that a lot of minorities had to be through could be disappear. Social acceptance is the important message for the mental health issues, and if the society could be more open, we could save the people who didn’t have to be passed away. The legislation of a strong anti-discrimination law can prevent discrimination too. In many countries, a lot of LGBTs are not protected by law. In U.S, they are officially protected by law but still too much discrimination is out there. Schools, public organizations could be helpful by making strong rules against discrimination.
mental issues 