China’s LGBT Community 5X More Likely To Develop Mental Illness and Consider Suicide
The Chinese Gender and Sexual Minorities Psychological Health Survey was conducted by the Beijing LGBT Centre and experts at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and released on Thursday. It was based on 9,355 collected questionnaires, with an average age of 22.
It found that 59 per cent of those surveyed are prone to different levels of depression. While 54 per cent have thought about suicide within the past year, 13.1 per cent thought about suicide in the past week. Compared with a 2019 study that found 12 per cent of the general public in China had suicidal thoughts, the rates among gender and sexual minorities were much higher, the report said.
Compared with the general public, the risk for getting depression is two to four times higher for LGBT people under 18, and two to five times higher for adults, the report found.
Factors that could affect the psychological health of LGBT people include loneliness, employment, marital pressures, sexually transmitted diseases and coming out of the closet.
A sub-section that focused on transgender people in the report found that 73.3 per cent were prone to depression, with 23.1 per cent having thought about suicide in the past week, which is higher than the data for gender and sexual minorities in general.
The most significant factors affecting transgender people are identity anxiety, social support and martial pressure.
The report suggested that there should be more monitoring of psychological health for the community and more resources, more support in schools and workplaces, as well as promoting better understanding with parents.
A similar disparity in mental health exists globally, although with local variations. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 2015 that LGBT youth in the US are close to three times more likely to contemplate suicide and almost five times as likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers.
“Tolerance and acceptance still needs to improve, that’s a very important factor,” he said.
Darius Longarino, a Senior Fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center who has worked extensively with experts in China seeking to advance LGBT rights and gender equality, said legal exclusion adds to mental health disparities by sending a message of rejection and stigmatisation to LGBT people, as well as making it more difficult for them to achieve physical safety and economic security.
“A lack of legal protections also leaves LGBT [people] vulnerable to discrimination, which has mental health consequences,” he said.
“Concealing one’s sexual orientation or gender identity at work can be stressful and resource-intensive — one has to maintain a web of lies and excuses or become very skillful at avoiding sensitive topics.”
Furthermore, state repression of speech and advocacy on LGBT issues makes positive change harder, he said. Stigmatising views remain entrenched and widespread, making it harder for youth to access accurate information and supportive resources, and more likely that they will internalise society’s homophobia and transphobia.
After conducting the survey in 2014, the Beijing centre had also tried providing the community with help and resources to improve people’s psychological health, such as training LGBT-friendly counsellors.
If you are having suicidal thoughts, or you know someone who is, help is available. For Hong Kong, dial +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on +1800 273 8255. For a list of other nations’ helplines,
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