A mental health crisis
The United States is widely acknowledged to be in the midst of a mental health crisis, with growing numbers of Americans—including young people--experiencing serious mental health conditions. Tragically, the crisis extends to a rise in the number of teenagers and young adults dying by suicide.
For young people in marginalized communities, including those who identify as LGBTQ+, the numbers are intensified. In an annual survey conducted by the Trevor Project, 41% of LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-24 reported having seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, with young people who are transgender, nonbinary, and/or persons of color being at especially high risk.
The magnitude of the crisis is daunting, and many of us struggle to find ways to support young people in our lives.
Happily, there is ample data to show that in the case of LGBTQ+ teens and young adults, a key protective factor is something we can all do—that is, to extend acceptance and support to LGBTQ+ young people.
More than 28,000 young people surveyed by the Trevor Project spoke to the power of acceptance and support from adults in their lives. What’s more, the data consistently confirms young people’s testimony, with decreased risk for mental health conditions and suicide among LGBTQ+ young people with at least one supportive adult they can count on.
So, what can we do to be that supportive adult?
Significantly, when asked what would be most helpful, young people highlighted the importance of education, pointing to several topics they wished adults in their lives knew more about as seen in the graph below.
Here at identiversity, we couldn’t agree more about the power of learning about gender and sexual identity as key to increasing support for the LGBTQ+ community, including young people in all of our lives!
To learn more about some of the topics highlighted by young people, check out the following links to information on this website.
Click here to learn more about the gender binary and other aspects of gender, including the evolution of pronouns.
Click here to learn more about sexual identity and sexual orientation, including what it means to be asexual or pansexual.
Click here to understand more about intersectionality.
References:
Trevor Project (2023). 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of Young People. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/
Dee
Who is Dee?
Gender Identity
Our core sense of who we are as a man, a woman, a mixture of both, or neither.
Gender Expression
How we show up in the world through choices like clothing, hair style, mannerisms or tone of voice.
Attraction
How we feel toward others sexually, romantically and/or emotionally.
Biological Sex
Physical attributes such as reproductive organs and genitalia, chromosomes, genes and hormone levels.
Explore More
Read the full report on the Trevor Project's 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People.