Trevor Survey: LGBTQ Youth Report Difficulty Securing Mental Health Care, As Rates Of Suicide Risk Increased

Sixty percent of LGBTQ youth wanted mental health care in the past year but were unable to get it, The Trevor Project 2022 national survey reported. The survey found that the top three reasons for not receiving mental health care were fear of discussing mental health concerns, afraid to obtain parental permission or fear of not being taken seriously. The Trevor Project conducted a national survey among 34,000 participants, ages 13 to 24, who identified as part of the LGBTQ community. Other major survey findings include:

• Among all participants, the rate of those considering suicide increased from 40% in 2020 to 45% in 2022. • 50% of participants, aged 13 to 17, considered suicide in the past year.

Study: Pandemic Took Toll On LGBTQ+ Mental Health

Isolated from friends and the LGBTQ community, University of Connecticut senior Megan Graham at times found herself questioning her queer identity during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I felt a bit more insecure about my identity being away from my friends who are within the community,” Graham said. “I didn’t have the same outlet as I did to be myself without judgment. I questioned myself more and wished I had more people to talk to about it.”

At UConn, Graham is the president of the Queer Collective, an LGBTQ discussion-based support organization that is run through the Rainbow Center, the heart of UConn’s LGBTQ community. Graham said that some of her self-doubts stemmed from losing these LGBTQ affirming spaces as the pandemic shut down campus and moved classes online.