Ireland's young LGBTQI+ population are experiencing significant mental health challenges, according to research by Trinity College Dublin.
The findings show that mental health and wellbeing have declined amongst the LGBTQI+ population since 2016.
'Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland’ highlights "significant challenges" experienced by younger age groups and the transgender and gender non-conforming communities.
The research involved 2,800 participants in association with the Belong To charity was broken into two modules.
Among the issues explored in the first module were LGBTQI+ people’s mental wellbeing, their perspectives on safety and discrimination in the context of school and media and challenges in accessing and using health care.
The second module centered on public attitudes regarding LGBTQI+ people provide an indication of the extent to which they are accepted and included in society.
Most of the sample (60%) had sought professional help for a mental health problem in the past five years, with a counsellor/therapist and a GP being accessed the most.
Many participants reported that their mental health had worsened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic rather than improved (48% vs 18%).
Around two-fifths and one half of participants fell within the moderate/severe/extremely severe categories for symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress (47%, 50% & 39% respectively).
Lifetime prevalence of self-harm was 52%, with half doing so in the year before survey participation.
Lifetime prevalence of suicidal thoughts was 65%, with approximately half (51%) having these thoughts within the last year.
The age of 14 was the most common age of first self-harm and first suicidal thoughts, while 15 was the most common age for a first suicide attempt.
Approximately half of participants reported that their self-harm, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts were related to their LGBTQI+ identity (58%, 51% and 49% respectively).
Reasons included both internal stressors (discomfort, shame, confusion, etc.) and external stressors (negative familial/societal attitudes, fears of rejection, bullying, discrimination, homophobia, transphobia etc) as well as not being able to envision a future and having a sense of hopelessness.
Two-fifths (41%) of the sample reached the risk threshold for potentially having an eating disorder.
The report states that findings regarding schools highlight some of the challenges that LGBTQI+ students encounter.
In terms of belonging and safety, around one third of participants (31%) reported "not belonging at all" in school and around one half (49%) reported being subjected to homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying and avoiding certain places due to feeling unsafe (48%).
More positive than negative however, was the presence of posters and activities related to Pride or Stand-Up Awareness Week against LGBTQI+ bullying reported by 60%, highlighting that visibility at some level was present.
For transgender and non-binary participants, the school environment was especially challenging in terms of expressing their gender identity.
When it came to harassment and violence in public, participants reported verbal harassment (72%), being threatened with being outed (33%), non-consensual touching (30%), physical attack (24%) and sexual assault (16.5%).
Public attitudes regarding LGBTQI+ people
The second module which relates to public attitudes regarding LGBTQI+ people, provides an indication of the extent to which they are accepted and included in society.
Although the study found a positive change in public attitudes towards LGB people since a previous study conducted by TCD in 2016, members of the public who were surveyed had less favourable attitudes towards the transgender and intersex communities.
Over half of participants (56%) believed that a young person cannot know they are transgender at the age of 12, and one quarter were undecided/uncertain.
Most participants agreed that there are only two genders (50%); at the same time, more than half (56%) acknowledged that for some people gender is more complex than being male or female.
Most participants are accepting of a child born with an intersex variation (71%) and supportive if a family member were to transition (65%).
However, comfort about a son or daughter being transgender (44%) was substantially lower.
Belong To CEO Moninne Griffith described the findings of ‘Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland’ as disheartening and upsetting, but not surprising to those supporting the community.
She said a sense of complacency had crept into Irish society because there was a perception that once marriage equality was achieved, and Pride had become a central calendar highlight for the country - the struggles of LGBTQI+ people had disappeared.
"These upsetting findings should serve as a rallying cry to the Government, policymakers and allies to work with us to end anti-LGBTQI+ stigma and discrimination and create a society where the LGBTQI+ community can feel safe and supported," Ms Griffith said.
Professor in Mental Health at Trinity College Dublin Agnes Higgins, who led the research team, said the findings continued to highlight that a significant proportion of those under 25 are struggling with their mental health, self-reporting high levels of self-harm, suicidal behaviour, symptoms of possible eating disorders and symptoms of severe and extremely severe stress, anxiety and depression.
"Bullying not only negatively impacted on young people’s desire to leave school early, but those who experienced LGBTQI+ related bullying in school, had poorer well-being and mental health outcomes in comparison to those who had not experienced LGBTQI+ related bullying," Ms Higgins said.
