Dinesh Bhugra CBE, a former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, told The i Paper that new figures showing rates of self-harm and suicide among lesbian, gay and bisexual people in England and Wales are more than double that of heterosexuals “should be a wake-up call” to the authorities.
There needs to be a “joint partnership between professions and government” to tackle the problem – which could even be an “underestimate”, he said. “Governments have a legal responsibility [to act], whereas professions have a moral and ethical responsibility.”
Alongside more education and training for clinicians, he said the government needs to introduce community-wide measures to tackle loneliness and isolation that often lies behind self-injury.
The context in which this is taking place, in terms of prejudice, discrimination, and stigma, needs to be better appreciated, he said, alongside parallel health problems among this group. “There may also be higher rates of substance abuse, alcohol abuse, isolation and loneliness.”
Professor Bhugra’s comments follow landmark data released last week by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which found that lesbian, gay and bisexual people (trans people were not included) are 2.5 times more likely to self-harm as heterosexuals and 2.2 times more likely to take their own life.
Read Next
square PATRICK STRUDWICKRead More
Professor Bhugra, 72, came out publicly in 2013 and said at the time that coroners should be compelled to include sexual orientation, where known, in the recording of suicides so that politicians, doctors, and psychiatrists know the scale of the problem.
Sixteen years later, in 2014, he became the first out gay president of the World Psychiatric Association, representing over 200,000 psychiatrists globally. Today, his suspicions that the numbers of suicides among gay and bisexual people dwarf that of the general population have been confirmed.
“My feeling would be that this might even be an underestimate,” he said of the English and Welsh figures. The data depended on the census in which not everyone would have been open about their sexual orientation, he explained, and on hospital records for self-harm, yet many people who injure themselves do not access treatment.
More regular data needed
Multiple studies over the last decade or so, particularly in the US, reveal a connection between more tolerance and legal protections for gay and bisexual people – such as same-sex marriage – and lower rates of suicide.
Further investigation is then necessary to understand why suicide rates remain so high among LGB people despite legal and cultural changes, said Professor Bhugra. Lessons can be learned from the concept of “cultural competency”, he said, which relates to how medical professionals understand people from different faiths, races and ethnicities and how these affect patients’ health inequalities.
When they do, services need to “make you feel comfortable, make you feel accepted,” he said. However, it goes further than this.
To achieve such care is going to need “investment in education,” he said. “From a clinical point of view, these issues need to be part of the undergraduate curriculum – making medical students, nursing students, and psychology students aware from an early stage [of the particular vulnerabilities] so that they can pick up warning signs.”
Beyond this, cooperation across multiple parts of the social care and health service is necessary. “The government needs to ensure that [mental health] services are accessible – and there needs to be joined-up services from public mental health, to primary care, to secondary care, and psychiatry,” he said.
Councils could start with libraries and high-street banks that are being closed. “Why can’t they be set up to offer safe spaces for people to meet up and get informal support?”
Changing attitudes
The majority, he thinks, consider these issues “the gay community’s problem. It may be that’s how it’s seen by the Government. The point is that part of Government’s responsibility is to make sure that vulnerable groups are looked after.”
“The answer is changing people’s attitudes and looking at things in a different way,” he said.
CALM added: “What’s vitally needed is further data on gender identity that includes trans and non-binary communities.” A spokesperson said politics itself represents a danger to the mental health of such minorities, that the ONS figures are “a desperate call for this Government to examine the harmful, dangerous and divisive rhetoric that politics all too often seem to be enabling.”
Last week, the Samaritans said: “These figures must now force Government to address this inequality issue before more lives are lost.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are taking action to address risk factors, preventing suicide and saving lives. We welcome new research into the underlying causes of suicide and will continue to review government policy to ensure it provides people who are struggling with the right support.”
The Samaritans helpline is available 24 hours a day on 116 123 Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( I’m a top psychiatrist. We now know how high gay suicide levels are. Here’s how to fix it )
Also on site :