The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a new data report today. Behavioral Health of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People: Results from the 2021 and 2022 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (PDF | 2.1 MB)indicating that lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults are more likely than heterosexual adults to use substances, suffer from mental health problems, including major depressive episodes, and have serious suicidal thoughts.
“We know that statistically, lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans face increased risks of mental health and substance use problems, which are often linked to stress caused by stigma, discrimination and harassment,” said Miriam E , HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., and leader of SAMHSA. “SAMHSA is committed to addressing this issue by increasing services and support for LGBTQI+ people. »
SAMHSA’s approach to addressing the behavioral health needs of LGBTQI+ people suffering from, affected by, or at risk of mental health and substance use issues builds on the President’s recommendations. Executive Order on Promoting Equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons (EO 14075).
Since 2020, SAMHSA has financed a Center of Excellence for LGBTQ+ Behavioral Health Equitywhich aims to support the implementation of change strategies within mental health and substance use disorder treatment systems to address disparities impacting the LGBTQ+ community.
In fall 2022, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launched a pilot service for LGBTQI+ youth offering 24/7 call, text and chat access to specially trained crisis counselors.
The report released today covers adults aged 18 or older. Age-adjusted results include:
- Lesbian and bisexual women were more likely than heterosexual women to have engaged in binge drinking in the past month, and about twice as likely to have consumed heavy alcohol in the past month.
- Gay and bisexual men and women were two to three times more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to have used illicit drugs other than marijuana in the past year.
- About one-third of bisexual women, bisexual men, and gay men have suffered from a substance use disorder (SUD) in the past year. About a quarter of lesbian women have had an SUD in the past year.
- Bisexual women were three times more likely than heterosexual women to have suffered from an opioid use disorder in the past year.
- The prevalence of serious mental illness (SMI) in the past year was more than three times higher among bisexual men than heterosexual men and more than twice as high among gay men than heterosexual men.
- More than one in four bisexual women and more than one in seven lesbian women have experienced a major depressive episode (MDE) in the past year. Sexual minority men were two to three times more likely than heterosexual men to have had an MDE in the past year.
- Bisexual women were six times more likely to have attempted suicide in the past year than heterosexual women.
The 2023 survey asks all respondents about their sex assigned at birth and their gender identity, including whether they identify as male, female, transgender, or another identity.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. To find out how to get help for mental health, drug and alcohol problems, visit FindSupport.gov.
