Happy Pride month and welcome back to our blog! Each month Old City Counseling will publish one blog post on a various topic to support or mission of helping individuals evolve and achieve their goals.
Pride Month was first declared by Former President Bill Clinton in 1999 and 2000 as “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month”. It was not until 2009, that Former President Barack Obama redeclared June as “Lesbian Gay Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month”. Most recently in 2021, Current President Joe Biden declared June as “Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer + (LGBTQ+) Month” to honor a more inclusive community.
There are still many disparities within finding appropriate and adequate mental health care providers for marginalized communities such as the LGBTQ community. Members of this community typically present with high rates of mental health challenges and low rates of accessible mental health care. More than 54% of LGBTQ youth reported that they wanted mental health care in 2021, though did not receive it. It is important to consider that the LGBTQ community face larger disparities in suicide risk compared to their non LGBTQ peers. All this said, adequate, accessible and affordable mental health care is essential to members of this community. Not all members of the LGBTQ community have access to high quality AND culturally competent care. Members of the LGBTQ community are also further marginalized by their race, making the Black LGBTQ community the demographic with the highest rate (63%) of unmet health care needs. There are many barriers that members of the LGBTQ community face when seeking out mental health treatment, with the highest barrier being affordability. Some individuals also feared that they would be outed by their therapist, some were traumatized by past negative experiences, or did not feel that a provider would understand their sexual orientation or gender identity. Furthermore, there are demographic barriers including race/ethnicity, gender identity, geography and socioeconomic status that further marginalize these individuals.
So what can we do to fix this? Advocate for policy change to support access to more mental health care, while also increasing the funding for mental health care. Improve the cultural competencies of mental health providers to foster a more inclusive environment and safe space for their patients, end the stigma and reduce fears in asking for mental health support and integrating technology to improve access to mental health care. Get out there and VOTE! There is no better time than now to do your part to minimize mental health barriers for the LGBTQ communities.
Please check out the links below for more information and resources.
https://www.samhsa.gov/lgbtq-plus-behavioral-health-equity
Sign the petition to stop conversion therapy!: https://www.outfront.org/stop-conversion-therapy
Register to vote!: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote