Safety Starts with Mental Health

• LGBTQ+ youth are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than their peers.
• The Trevor Project's 2023 survey found that 41% of LGBTQ+ youth have seriously considered suicide, about half were trans and nonbinary.
• The Trevor Poject's analysis of CDC data found:
• 48% of Bi people considered while 27% attempted.
• 37% of Lesbian/Gay people considered while 19% attempted.
• 14% of Straight people considered while 6% attempted.
• 2020 peer-reviewed study found that trans and non-binary youth were 2 to 2.5 times more likely to experience serious contemplation of suicide compared to cisgender LGBQ+ peers.
• A 2023 survey found that almost all LGBTQ+ youth that had BIPOC identities reported higher suicide attempt rates than their peers.
• Indigenous youth who are two spirit/LGBTQ+ consistently report the hiest suicide risk rate.
• Some Risk factors for suicide in LGBTQ+ youth:
• Minority Stress: where anti-LGBTQ+ messages become internalized.
• Examples include experiencing the following due to identity: Housing instabilities, physical harm, identity change attempts by parents via conversation camps and the like.
• Some preventive factors for LGBTQ+ youth suicide:
• Identity-affirming spaces like homes and schools consistently lower suicide attempt rates for LGBTQ+ youth.
• Trusted adults and supportive peers have led to reports of higher self-esteem in LGBTQ+ youth.
• An article on Pew Trust gives 3 strategies for combating the fact that from 2007 to 2020 the suicide rate for black youth has risen 144%.
• The 3 stratigies:
• Increase healthcare providers' understanding of the cultures they provide care to.
• Research risk factors focusing on different minority identities.
• Research shows that black youth show symptoms of depression (a suicide risk factor) differently than white peers.
• Aggression and irritability present more for depression than sadness and a lack of interest in things.
• All relates to distrust of healthcare professionals due to centuries of exploration and abuse.
• Diagnostic criteria being created primarily around white people leads to misclassification and inappropriate medical responses, increasing someone's suicide risk.
• Black youth are often misdiagnosed when they experience suicidal tendencies.
• Still, less than 50% of youth go on outpatient after being in the ER for self-harm, and it's less for Black youth.
• Due to a 2019 report to Congress, funding for the study of suicide risk and preventive factors, like stigma and connectedness of communities, has increased.

Points on the statistics on black youth and 3 strategies to counter suicide rates rising in the black youth populous can apply to other races too. One of the reasons Two-Spirit Indigenous youth might be facing the highest suicide risk rates is because of the intersections of minority stress they face and the lack of specific research into their situation.