Abstract
This study examines barriers to mental health services among sexual and gender minorities (SGM) who screened positive for depression and risk of suicide. Data from an online survey of SGM (N = 2778) are analyzed. 37.5% met criteria for depression and 73.6% screened for being at risk of suicide. The most frequently cited barriers to mental health services access were inability to pay (62.3%), insufficient insurance (52.2%), a preference for ‘waiting’ for the problems to go away (51.5%), discomfort discussing emotions (45.7%), and feeling embarrassed and ashamed about mental health challenges (42.5%). Policy and practices implications of these findings are discussed.
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Notes
Sexual minorities refer to individuals who do not identify as heterosexual and include but is not limited to gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual and queer individuals. Gender minorities refer to individuals who do not identify as cisgender, meaning that their gender identity is different from their sex assigned as birth. Gender minorities include individuals who are transgender, gender non-binary, and gender queer.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are extremely grateful to the thousands of SGM that participated in the survey.
Funding
This work was supported by an Internal Research Grant from the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Men’s Health Research program at UBC. The postdoctoral funding for the first author was provided by Movember Canada (Grant # 11R18296), the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (Grant # 11R06913) and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (Grant # 17945).
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Ferlatte, O., Salway, T., Rice, S. et al. Perceived Barriers to Mental Health Services Among Canadian Sexual and Gender Minorities with Depression and at Risk of Suicide. Community Ment Health J 55, 1313–1321 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00445-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-019-00445-1