Sexual minorities more likely to seek mental health care

By Sheilah Downey

Citing stresses such as discrimination and violence, researchers say lesbian, gay and bisexual women are twice as likely to seek help for mental and substance abuse disorders than heterosexuals.

The stressful life issues associated with being gay may be greater among sexual and gender minorities and "may be construed as mental health problems," wrote researchers at the University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health.

The study's findings show that minority sexual orientation predisposes individuals to seek out mental health services.

"It is well known that health services utilization is greater among women generally," said study co-author Susan Cochran, professor of epidemiology at UCLA. "Here we have shown that minority sexual orientation is also an important consideration."

Researchers studied data data on 2,074 people in the California Quality of Life Survey. Results revealed that 48.5 percent of lesbain, gay and bisexuals received treatment in the past year, compared to 22.5 percent of heterosexuals. Lesbians and bisexual women were most likely to receive treatment, said researchers, and heterosexual men were least likely.

Other studies have shown that sexual minorities who seek mental health treatment "do not have a diagnosable disorder but may have other symptoms, such as psychological distress or impairments in functioning, that lead them to seek care," stated the UCLA release.

The study was published in the journal BMC Psychiatry.