Depression in our community
Feeling depressed seems to be the order of the day as studies are finding mental health is worse for gays and lesbians when compared to the wider community.
A beyondblue report, Feeling Queer and Blue, found that gay, lesbian and bisexual people have “higher rates of depression, more depressive symptoms, and poorer mental health outcomes for non-heterosexual people when compared with heterosexual people”. The report agrees with other research on mental health that says conditions like depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and suicide are more common in the gay and lesbian community.
Perhaps this isn’t so much a surprise. Being gay ain’t easy. Coming out can involve a great deal of stress as family bonds are tested. Alcohol abuse, crystal meth and the over-usage of other drugs have been ongoing issues for the gay and lesbian community for a while now.
Homophobia is still rife in society. It’s no wonder that with these kinds of stresses gay and lesbian people are getting depressed at higher rates.
Whatever the cause of depression may be, there is still the question as to what can be done. On an individual level and as a community depression has its costs. Relationships and employment suffer. Suicide can become a real risk. To begin to deal with depression means we need to start getting clear about what it is we are dealing with. We need to understand depression.
Depression isn’t just about your mood. For sure, being sad or feeling down is part of it, but there is more to it than that. Depression also involves physical and mental symptoms. It can affect your weight — losing your appetite or putting on weight can both be signs of depression.
Changes to sleeping patterns are another common symptom. Doing daily activities become more difficult as people with depression find themselves drained of energy and without motivation. Clear thinking also tends to dissolve. This can making problem-solving difficult and mean that professional help is required.
It takes a personal commitment to recover from depression, one where support from partners, friends and family plays a large part.
As a community, coming to understanding depression, its effect on our lives and the treatments available is for many people to reconnect with happiness and mental healthiness. And given the higher rates of depression, it looks like this should be high on the agenda for a healthy community.
info: During Mental Health Week, Carers NSW, ACON and GLCS will be holding forums on Depression and Recovery. On Wednesday October 7, the forum is on Wellbeing and on Thursday October 8, the forum is on Depression. Both forums start at 6.30pm and are at the Rex Centre, 58A Macleay St, Kings Cross.
For more information please contact David on 9289 4249 or email him at [email protected]
I am a bi-sexual female who grew up on the South Coast of NSW and never felt comfortable coming out till I moved to Sydney.
I think it is wrong for people to judge others because of their sexuality.
We are all human and we should ALL have the same rights no matter what you sexual prefrences are.
Eric, as mentioned before my comments are very general and of course it is impossible to cover every individual in said comment. You mention gay men marrying and coming out in their 40’s and their inability to talk etc etc etc, if they choose not to get help and then commit suicide then how would gay specific assistance help them if they dont talk to anyone. Im not saying that assistance shouldnt be given or that mental health services shouldnt be reveiwed or improved, All Im saying is that I dont beleive that the service offered has to be gay specific, it is the job of all health care professionals to assist you, if you do not feel comfortable with your own gp there are other out there,they can and will refer you to an appropriate mental health expert. Also not all mental health issues are gay specific, bi-polar also affects straights which in my veiw means any mental healh professional can treat it. Once again if you self medicate via drugs or alcohol to avoid a problem that you know is there is just an excuse, I have been in that box and I know it was an excuse, you need to get off your bum and see a Dr, thats the first step, it becomes easier then to get the rest of the help you need. The GLBTI community is very good at talking but not acting and this is an issue that should have been addressed long ago so if the GLBTI community cant get their act together then all funding should be redirected into improved training to all GP’s & mental health professionals in dealing with GLBTI issues, then it shouldnt matter where you live you would have access to mental health help close to you. The only gay specific service regarding mental health should be a telephone service where a trained operator can access a data base for a mental health professional close to the person seeking assistance who can offer ongoing help without prejiduce.
Lastly I take exception eric to you implying that I despise anyone, I refuse to pander to anyone and be like our community groups and pat you on the hand, which obviousy hasnt helped many people, I say it how it is, we need to wake up and get this silly notion out of our heads that because we are gay we need special help and special funding. It’s time to stop segregating ourselves as GLBTI, first & formost we are human beings like hetrosexuals and the sooner we accept we are just humans the sooner the mainstream will see us as sch and not sexual deviates parading down oxford st once a year.
Lex, I hear blame and stigma from you and that is the reason for the sad indictment of our community. Do you understand men who are gay not bi, get married and don’t come out until they are 40? It is the same with mental health. Stigma of mental health creates a silence that defies the stats. People who can’t talk about their poor mental health lack awareness and therefore do not understand what is happening to them. They don’t have a vocabulary, they can’t describe what they are feeling and ultimately, they lack history. They don’t get help. Some of them commit suicide. That, Lex, is what the stats say, they are the self-medicators and the sex addicts despised by you. Something to talk about at your next counselling session. But please do look up the stats mentioned above.
I agree with the majority of comments made here, having lost both my parents to suicide I recently attended the SPA (Suicide Prevention Australia)release of its position statement regarding the GLBT community.The position statement included a study of the GLBT community over the last 10 years and the facts to me were alarming, 30% of GLBT people suffer depression and we are 14 time more likely to suffer mental illness, self harm and suicide compared to the hetrosexual community. Based on these figures and relating data I have been working recently with ACON in etablishing a support group specifically to deal with mental health issues affecting the GLBT community. It is called COMING OUT OF THE BLUE. Our next meeting is next Thursday the 8th October from 7pm till 8:30pm at ACON 9 Commonwealth Street Sydney. All are welcome to attend. We are also interested in people who can become involved and volunteer their time to help make a difference. For more information you can contact me on
0423 640 743.
Eric Iam not naive in regards to mental health issues and I wouldn’t consider my veiw as all over the place, it is hard to cover every concern and situation in a forum or blog, my veiw is only very general. Anyone who is in need, be it mental health or heart problems a GP can assist if not directly then by refering you to an org or service that can.A 15-20 min consultation may not cure you but it is a start in the right direction. My beef with gay org’s such as ACON is that they are predominatly city/urban based so if a person wanted a gay specific org to turn to then they either have to come to the big smoke or suffer depression, even though I dont personally believe that medical help has to come from gay versed professionals the majority of Queers do believe this because the Queer community has built up this them and us divide and have segregated themselves from the general community so queers now think that if the service isnt gay orientated then it wont meet their needs. I myself live in the country and I also have suffered from mental illness and I have over come it and the first step was my GP and then referals to specialist, I did not need help from someone specifically trained in gay issues to help me wih my gay issues.
As for compassion & empathy, I can show both of these qualities however as a community we do promote drug use, exsessive alcohol consumption, promiscuous sex etc etc, I know each case is individual and most people have mental and turn to these vices but many people develop mental illness by indulging in these vices. The Queer community has to acknowledge this and promote clean living rather than safe ways to shoot up, safe ways to use beats and sex venues etc, I dont wish mental illness on anyone and encourage people to seek help but if you really want help any health professional is a good start. If the community feels the need for gay specific help then dont turn to the gov, turn to ACON who receives millions in gov funding and tell them they need to get out to the country, but I dont feel empathetic to people who as you put it eric that self medicate with alcohol and drugs to avoid an issue, if they know to take drugs because they are depressed then they should know that they should see a DR.
Lex, your argument is all over the place. You want orgs to be in the country but say there is adequate help from any Dr or health care professional. You wouldn’t let your GP be your heart surgeon but you expect them be good counsellors and well versed on gay issues. A 15-20 min consult is not enough time. If it is good enough for drought-stricken farmers to get tailored help from trained professionals then so should country GLBTI – that’s not quite the same service as your gay-specific black and white thinking.
Whilst you seem to have some compassion toward people with poor mental health you do not show any empathy for those who are self-medicating with alcohol and other drugs. I am glad you are naive to this because for many of us these vices have stood between us and suicide. Sometimes the pain is so numbing, so disarming you don’t know how to ask for help. Eric Glare Living with HIV and bipolar type II
It would be interesting to see a beakdown of the statistics of this research. being gay is hard for an individual and coming out is stressful, the question is what are our community orgs doing to ease the pain and offer practical support? It seems that the likes of ACON and 2010 are city based, which is great for urban queers, but what about our country cousins who suffer alot more, why are there no services offered outside major urban areas, for eg Bowral in the southern highlands of NSW, sure its only 2-3 hours train trip south of sydney but for a desperate teen you may as well be on the moon. These org’s need to get out to where the most vulnerable kids are. As for depression related to substance abuse, regardless which causes which the queer communities glorification of drug use and multiple sex partners is a contributing factor, are gays so boring that they need drugs and alcohol to be interesting or to be able to have a good time? will we ever be able to say no to drugs? if someone chooses to rely on drugs or alcohol to avoid reality cant make a life for themselves then they need to accept the consequenses for their choices as do people who choose to have unsafe sex etc. Honestly for people to say that because they are gay they dont get the help they need is crap, if people feel that way it is because the gay community has created this them & us senario where people think if the service isnt gay specific or run by a gay org then they are missing out or not being treated equally, any Dr or health care professional can and will help any person who seeks that help. The gay community has created alot of their own problems.
Ronson from Katoomba is spot on – we now have truckloads of research that connects systemic discrimination with shocking increases in depression and suicidal thought.
We also desperately need to get organisations like Beyondblue to start taking our mental health seriously. Just because you are not str8 doesn’t mean you should be left on the mental health scrap heap.
I have setup a website http://www.sweetfa.com.au that highlights the problem, and what needs to be done.
One very easy step the federal and state governments can do to ease depression and anxiety in the gay and lesbian community is to enact total and unequivocal equal rights legislation including marriage rights.
Sometimes it’s bad enough just being different to the majority of the population and to have that difference reinforced by government is not good for mental health.
And if the Christian churches and lobby groups would just shut up and mind their own business(es?) …