President Presented with New Guide on Mental Health for Lesbian & Gay People

President Presented with New Guide on Mental Health for Lesbian & Gay People 

Wednesday, May 05 2010 

The President of Ireland Mary McAleese, was today (Wed. 5th May) presented with a copy of a guide entitled, Look After Yourself, Look After Your Mental Health – A Guide for LGBT People.  

The guide was presented to the President at Áras an Uachtaráin by GLEN, BeLonG To Youth Services and a wide range of agencies providing support to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.  The guide was produced by the HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention in collaboration with GLEN and BeLonG To as part of their national mental health awareness campaign. 

“The evidence is clear from research that, despite great progress in Irish society, LGBT people still can experience significant degree of prejudice and harassment and this can lead to poor mental health and well-being,” said Odhrán Allen, Director of Mental Health Policy with GLEN. 

The most comprehensive study of LGBT peoples’ lives to date, carried out last year by researchers from Trinity College, found that 27% of LGBT people had self-harmed and 17.7% had attempted suicide. (see Editors Note) 

“LGBT people of all ages can still experience difficulties ‘coming out’ such as fear of rejection. They can also experience hostile attitudes and behaviour in school, in the workplace, when accessing services and in their local areas, all of which can have a detrimental impact on their mental health and well-being. To help people deal with this, LGBT people need support and this guide lists supports that are available for them,” said Allen. 

“LGBT young people continue to experience homophobic bullying in their schools and communities and these experiences have been proven to place them at heightened health risk. Our experience and national research shows that we need to put an end to this bullying once and for all to help ensure that all young people are safe and healthy,” said David Carroll, National Network Manager at BeLonG To. 

“It is also important to say that LGBT young people are continuously strong and resilient in the face of difficult environments and that their resilience is an example to us all. You only have to watch RTE’s Growing Up Gay series to see that there are amazingly brave LGBT young people in Ireland who are really changing our society for the better,” he continued. 

The National Office for Suicide Prevention have worked closely with GLEN and BeLonG To to address the identified issues, and have supported a range of initiatives including the production of this Guide. 

“Look After Yourself, Look After Your Mental Health – A Guide for LGBT People, offers LGBT people guidance on how to mind their mental health, where they can get support and sends out the clear message that it is perfectly normal to ask for help when you need it,” said Allen. 

Look After Yourself, Look After Your Mental Health – A Guide for LGBT People