GLBT suicide goes mainstream
The country’s largest advocacy body for suicide prevention has called on the mainstream health sector to address the alarming rates of suicide in the GLBT community.
Suicide Prevention Australia this week released a position statement on suicide and self-harm in GLBT communities.
The document collates a range of data and studies from the last 10 years to paint a dismal picture of mental health within the community — GLBT people are up to 14 times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual counterparts and are more likely to perform acts of self-harm. Our youngest and oldest community members are the most vulnerable.
“To some degree suicide and self-harm among GLBT people has fallen off the policy agenda in the last 10 years in Australia,” ActNow project manager and document author Atari Metcalf told Sydney Star Observer.
“What makes this statement particularly exciting is that it’s come from a mainstream organisation. Suicide Prevention Australia is the national advocate and has a great deal of weight and credibility. It sets an expectation up for other mainstream services.”
Metcalf called the document ‘a road map’ for both government and non-government agencies to prioritise their actions to address the startling figures.
“We’ve called on the Government to include dedicated strategies under the national suicide prevention framework that target GLBT communities, or that seek to address the issues effecting GLBT communities,” he said.
“It’s also about creating a socially inclusive society in which gender and sexual orientation are affirmed. From that there are a series of recommendations. At the top of the list is absolutely addressing homophobia in the school system.
“The research we pulled together demonstrated that three-quarters of homophobic abuse occurs in education settings.”
The other key recommendation is to encourage government departments to collect data on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“The data are very important because it’s a public health issue, it’s a public interest issue and it’s really a measure of how well we do socially,” Suicide Prevention Australia’s chair Michael Dudley said.
“We know those statistics currently have shown the suicide rate is falling, but we know from work on this with coroners and day-to-day stakeholders and the ABS and others, that the statistics are, conservatively, at least 30-40 percent underreported, and we don’t know how many of those people would be same-sex attracted or have gender identity issues as a basis for their distress.”
The document will be circulated to relevant government departments and service providers.
info: For more information on Suicide Prevention Australia go to www.suicidepreventionaust.org. If you are depressed or contemplating suicide contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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Is okay, Ronson. OII Australia actively seeks out inclusion, which is why I continue to be absolutely gobsmacked at intersex people being so blatantly excluded from this document. Even more so considering the position statement’s author, of whom we had high hopes. If you wish to know more about intersex and intersex people’s needs, please go to our website at http://oiiaustralia.com/
Thanks for putting me straight (in a manner of speaking :-) ) on that, EA. It was just one of those things at the back my memory which I thought I had come across somewhere.
Ronson, who told you that? OII Australia certainly has no problem with the idea of inclusion.
Interesting question, EarthAngel. Do you intersex people like being lumped in with GLTBQ folk? I thought they didn’t.
I am intrigued by the fact that intersex people have been specifically excluded from this position statement. Why?
Jason is right – excess GLBTI mental health dysfunction was well know well before 1992 and was part of decriminalisation of homosexuality. However the data was relatively poor, as SPA points out, which is what you would expect with unbridled homophobia. But would we have been ready in 1992?
Pete highlights our core problem: “Rather than pick holes, lets listen to Kirby”. Why can’t we, the GLBTI community, listen to the scientists with the data and not depend on a cult leader figure for our salvation years later? Why are we waiting for reports like that of SPA and beyondbllue? Because we are in denial about our poor mental health. Blaming media silence is a typical response to stigma and our own inability to rise above it and speak out. There is a large groups of people who are ‘the silent successful’ having been treated for mental health but say to me, “thanks for speaking out but please don’t tell anyone I have taken antidepressants”. It’s understandable but perpetuates all the wrong misconceptions. Our silence and our denial are our downfall.
Eric Glare, living with HIV and bipolar type II
David and Pete – I stand by my comments, I would say about 95% of mainstream suicide prevention programms ignore GLBT suicide – Ive visted there websites and there’s no memtion of sexuality being a factor in suicide, and in high schools these suicide prevention groups don’t exactly seem to be jumping out to help GLBT teens in high schools – Not good enough. Nobody seems to want to deal with the issue and I partly blame mainstream suicide prevention groups.
With resect to David, how does he know Positive Life was not invited, when in fact both NAPWA and Positive Life were invited to the launch.
The statement also acknowledges plwhas on Page 7.
Hey Peter, that’s why I’m surprised that Positive Life was NOT invited to the launch.
Bruce Llama has a comment on the topic as well. Read it. Very interesting.
http://www.brucellama.com/?p=855
many hiv patients suicide and it goes unreported and almost no one cares.
I would like to commend SPA and the many many organisations and GLBT leaders that were involved in putting together this position statement. SPA is a very small organisation and they have put a huge effort into this.
Jason’s comments above are uninformed at best. Rather than pick holes, lets listen to Kirby, celebrate this great resource and more importantly – use it to make change!
I was at the launch of the SPA GLBTI policy launch. I raised the issue of suicide, suicicidal ideation and self harm among ageing GLBTI people. While my input was well received I did promise that “I will be in touch”, and I shall be.
Jason, I think it’s a little disingenuous to be critical of the time taken by SPA to produce this policy, unless you have, over the years to which you refer, been actively encouraging SPA to address this important issue.
With regard to “being worried they will lose funding”, try as I will to imagine the previous government supporting this GLBTI policy I can’t see it.
In launching the policy Michael Kirby spoke at length about what he called ‘the truth’. He referred to the issue of GLBTI suicide and self-harm being hidden from community view by media silence. He said that it’s up to us to ‘tell the truth’ about this tragedy.
Let’s all get talking.
I have written to Fairfax and others calling on them not to mention beyondblue as the Chairman Jeff Kennett likens homosexuals to child sex offenders. The government funds this sort of hate that leads to suicide by funding beyondblue in a don’t ask don’t tell policy. I presume it is more about promoting Jeff Kennett then suicide prevention as they still have Jeff Kennett on the board and as an ambassador for them. I have asked papers and radio stations to use non judgemental services such as Life Line.
Our loopy Happy Clapper Prime Minister is supporting hate groups. The Australian Christian Lobby says we are a cancer to society. Kevin Rudd is the key note speaker giving an address supporting the current legal definition of marriage and families. http://www.acl.org.au/national/browse.stw?article_id=28624
The constant support of groups that vilify and seek the destruction of people in our community can only lead to more suicide.
The best prevention is by first changing our Loopy Happy Clapper Ear Wax Eating Prime Minister. He demonstrated that he is not in favor of preventing suicide in our community as he has constantly supported hate groups.
Great to see GLBT ageing issues rating a mention in this, as suicide and self harm amongst older people in our community is virtually invisible, but very real.
Congratulations to SPA for doing this, great news.
Also Suicide Prevention Australia is funded by the federal government maybe they are now worried they will lose funding if they continue to exclude GLBT suicide, maybe thats the real reason they have decided to take us seriously.
Great news, But suicide prevention australia has been running since 1992 and I question why it has taken so long for them seriously look into and investigate GLBT suicide ?