Bisexual Youth At High Risk for Suicide Risk Behaviors, Need Tailored Services
***Content note: self-harm and suicide risk behaviors***
If you are a bisexual, pansexual, fluid, or queer youth in need, especially around the holidays, please reach out for help. Visit the Bisexual Resource Center’s resources for bisexual+ youth. Or contact the Trevor Project to talk to someone directly.
According to a research paper authored by Theodore Caputi in The Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday, bisexual-identified youth are the most likely among sexual minority youth to report suicide risk behaviors. The research paper analyzed data from the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a federally-authorized, state-administered survey of high school youth across the country.
The data analyzed in this particular research paper looked at suicide risk behaviors by sexual orientation, and while it includes transgender and cisgender youth among all the youth surveyed, did not analyze risk behaviors by gender identity. Past research shows that transgender youth report very high rates of suicide risk behaviors.
The paper looked at three measures of suicide risk behavior: seriously considering, planning, and attempting suicide. Bisexual students reported the highest risk for each behavior. Especially concerning to this author was the percentage of youth who reported attempting suicide in the past year. One third of bisexual-identified female students (34.1%) reported attempting suicide, compared to 8.4% of heterosexual-identified female students, 25.8% of lesbian-identified female students, and 11.7% of questioning female students.
One third of bisexual-identified female students (34.1%) reported attempting suicide . . .
Among all respondents, 9.8% of female students and 2.4% of male students identified as bisexual.
CNN covered the research paper as well:
Of the sexual minorities in the study, 34.9% were planning suicide and 24.9% had attempted suicide in the previous year. Compared with heterosexual teens, those numbers are exceptionally high: Of the straight teens in the study, 14.8% had seriously considered suicide, 11.9% had been planning suicide, and 6.3% had made an attempt in the past year.
The results of this analysis confirm the results of previous studies on the mental health and risk behaviors of bisexual youth. See the Human Rights Campaign’s analysis of their internal research. And the Movement Advancement Project’s report examining research from the past several years.
The authors of the research paper recommend further research into the causes of heightened rates of reported suicide risk behaviors, and also recommend that clinicians discuss sexual orientation with their patients, recommending competent resources.
But the fact remains that there are very few resources specifically tailored to bisexual youth. And research also shows that many bisexual-identified people do not feel welcome or accepted at programs and services designed for the general “LGBT” community. Research also shows that isolation can compound mental health and risk-behaviors for bisexual people, making community support and bisexual-competent care that much more important.
If mental health care providers want to lower the reported rates of suicide risk behaviors for bisexual-identified youth, they must provide bisexual-specific care, and understand the specific facets of discrimination and trauma that face bisexual youth.
If you are a bisexual, pansexual, fluid, or queer youth in need, especially around the holidays, please reach out for help. Visit the Bisexual Resource Center’s resources for bisexual+ youth. Or contact the Trevor Project to talk to someone directly. You can call them at 1–866–488–7386 or text them confidentially at 1–202–304–1200.
