During a difficult time in our country where the rights and safety of LGBTQIA+ youth are under attack, nonprofit The Trevor Project released a new research brief that examines the role trauma can play on suicide risk for this community of young people.
Building on past understanding of the elevated presence of trauma-related events in the lives of LGBTQIA+ young people, this new data offers a clear window into the negative effects all of this trauma can have on the overall mental health of these youth. It especially shows how acutely this impacts vulnerable groups within the greater LGBTQIA+ community – especially those with intersectional identities, from people of color to transgender and nonbinary youth to multisex individuals.
Experts say this research is a needed wake-up call to society to offer better support and safeguards for these young people, especially as they continue to navigate a world that can seem hostile and unsupportive.
The new brief reveals that 37% of these youth reported “high levels of trauma symptoms.” When zeroing in on who experienced more trauma than others, the survey shows BIPOC (Black and indigenous, people of color), multisex, and trans and nonbinary youth reported the highest levels. The findings reveal 37% of young, BIPOC LGBTQ people experience high levels of trauma symptoms compared to 36% of their white peers.
The group found that LGBTQ youth, who reported high levels of trauma symptoms, showed a drastically increased risk of attempting suicide, about three times greater the odds of attempting suicide in the past year compared to their peers who reported either no trauma symptoms or low-to-moderate trauma symptoms.
Read more at Healthline.com.