National Safety Month: Need for on-campus mental health treatment of LGBQ students

Discrimination in the form of subtle taunts or different behavior toward certain sections of the society can affect their mental health adversely. Similarly, prejudice against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning and queer (LGBQ) community creates a stressful and hostile social environment affecting their mental health negatively. When it comes to students in this group, the situation is even worse due to the lack of availability of effective treatments through on-campus mental health services. Thus, most LGBQ students with deteriorating mental health conditions look for necessary mental health help outside their college campus.

The authors of a recent study titled “Mental Health Service Utilization Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Questioning or Queer College Students” highlighted that though college campuses have available programs to provide mental disorder treatment, it is still unclear as to how they can reach out to LGBQ students to offer services that exactly meet their needs. Published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health in May 2017, the study revealed that the need for treatment is more profound in sexual minority students, owing to their higher tendency to suffer from depression, as compared to their heterosexual counterparts.

Every year in the month of June, the National Safety Council (NSC), along with community workers, health care providers and social media groups, endeavors to raise awareness about safety from injuries or death at home or on the road. Observed as the “National Safety Month,” the event focuses on safety issues that tend to take a back seat owing to lack of awareness among people from all walks of life. Intolerance toward a section of the society based on their sexual orientation is common and can lead to unwarranted manifestations of prejudice against them. The need of the hour is to eliminate biases and inequity against the LGBQ community and keep them safe from injuries and death due to the psychological impact of discrimination.

Identifying mental health requirements of LGBQ students

The researchers observed 33,220 California college students who undertook an online survey on mental health needs. They looked at the effect of emotional stress on the academic performance of the participants. All the schools surveyed had formal on-campus mental health treatment centers.

Overall, 7 percent of the respondents were identified as LGBQ. Results revealed that roughly 26 percent of LGBQ students lived with serious mental illnesses such as feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, as compared to 18 percent of their heterosexual peers. An estimated 17 percent of the LGBQ students complained of being unable to pay adequate attention to their studies due to grievous emotional health problems like stress and anguish compared to nearly 11 percent of the heterosexual students.

Evaluating the extent to which mental health rehabilitation centers were flooded with LGBQ students, the researchers revealed that students belonging to the sexual minority group had 87 percent higher probability of using mental health services as compared to heterosexuals. Although many students sought on-campus mental health services, a majority of them referred to mental health professionals outside the college campus owing to barriers like confidentiality issues, embarrassment, exorbitant costs and lack of access.

Thus, the treatment for mentally ill LGBQ students can be more effective if they are provided with affordable mental health services on their college campuses. According to Dr. Bradley Stein, of the RAND Corporation in Pittsburgh, “We need to think about this all the way through, including how do we change the perception of these services being available, easy to use, accessible and meeting the needs of students.”

Making mental health treatment a priority

Historically, mental issues are not taken seriously, which has resulted in a larger population suffering from various mental ailments. Mental health issues need immediate attention so that their symptoms do not exacerbate. Sovereign Health is a leading behavioral treatment provider in the U.S. with mental health treatment centers spanning across the country. Thus, if you have a loved one who needs mental health help, call at our 24/7 helpline number or chat online for a quick resolution.