


|
The Homosexuality Factor
in
the Youth Suicide Problem
|
|
Pierre J. Tremblay
Presented
at the Sixth Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Suicide
Prevention, Banff, Alberta, October 11-14, 1995, (c) Oct 1995. First made
available on the Internet on January 19, 1996.
Contents
- Abstract - Addendum - Introduction
Contents
-
Abstract, and Addendum
-
Introduction
-
History
of the Suicide Problem in Gay Communities
-
The
Gay and Bisexual Male Attempted Suicide Problem: 1930-1995
-
The
Bagley(1994) Confirmation of the Gay and Bisexual MaleOver-Representation
in the Male Youth Attempted Suicide Problem
-
The
Suicide Attempt Problem for Lesbian and Bisexual Females, and for
Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual youth of Colour
-
The
Suicide Problem for Gay and Bisexual Males
-
Discussion
-
Conclusion
-
Acknowledgements
-
Appendix
A
-
Appendix
B
-
Appendix
C
-
Bibliography
-
Endnotes
-
Figures 1,
2,
3,
4,
5
-
Tables 1,
2,
3,
4
Abstract
Suicidology has a history of not recognizing
the homosexuality factor in suicide problems, but a suicide problem has
existed in gay communities for the last 150 years. Non-random samples of
GLB (gay, lesbian, and bisexual) youth have produced 20% to 50% attempted
suicide rates. Their predictable over- representation in the attempted
suicide problem, at least for GB males, has now been confirmed by Dr. C.
Bagley's study of 750 randomly sampled young adult males. Homosexually
active males accounted for 37.5% of suicide attempters, and the actual
percentage may be higher. Study results and the related literature suggest
that GLB youth of colour are at the highest risk for suicide attempts.
Professionals working with youth generally lack the knowledge and understanding
needed to help these "at risk" adolescents, and their socially induced
interrelated problems may be exacerbated when they access often inappropriate
services. Important changes in the youth problem prevention/intervention
fields are mandatory. The Bagley study reveals that 87.5% of male youth
suicide attempters were either sexually abused as children and/or are homosexually
oriented. Data confirming a postulated GLB over-representation in worsening
youth suicide statistics is lacking due to the poor quality of the research
work.
Addendum
In this paper it is reported that 3
out of 8 suicide attempters in the Bagley(1994) sample are gay or bisexual.
A further analysis of the data has revealed that 5 out of 8 suicide attempters
are in this category. Therefore, 62.5% of suicide attempters are GB males,
not 37.5%. and they are 13.6-times more likely to have attempted suicide
than their heterosexual counterparts. A paper related to gay demographics
and suicide-related problems is being written by Dr. Chris Bagley and Pierre
Tremblay. (January 8, 1996.) [1999 Note: Paper first became available online
in September, 1996) and was published in June, 1997.]
Introduction
Suicidologists have generally been reluctant
to accept or research the informed proposition that GLB (gay, lesbian,
and bisexual) people, and especially GLB youth, are at higher risk for
suicide behaviours than their heterosexual counterparts. Therefore, research
papers and articles about youth suicide problems have traditionally omitted
sexual orientation issues. In response to four such articles published
in the early 1990s (1-4), the authors
were challenged in letters to the editor(5-7)
written by professionals familiar with GLB youth and their problems. Linda
Snelling, author of one letter published in JAMA (the Journal of the
American Medical Association), was troubled by the neglect of GLB youth
in the medical professions.
"I was both astonished and
saddened to find that in her recent editorial, 'Youth Suicide: The Physician's
Role in Suicide Prevention,' Blumenthal did not discuss the impact of the
repression of emerging awareness of homosexuality on the incidence of suicide
among young people." After describing the hate-ridden environments in which
GLB youth often live, and their related problems, she stated: "If alleged
experts on suicide prevention cannot include issues relevant to gay youth
in their discussions of counselling strategies, I suggest that these youth
are not only hated, but also at risk of being ignored to death by medical
professionals. Denying the needs of these young people - or worse, ignoring
their very existence - only confirms that we in the medical profession
do not consider them important..." (7:2806)]
By 1993 a few professionals in the field
of adolescent suicide prevention were taking note of this increasingly
visible debate. In American Psychologist, Garland & Zigler(1993) wrote
the following lines about GLB suicide problems. "The humiliation and frustration
suffered by some adolescents struggling with conflicts over their sexual
orientation may precipitate suicidal behaviour(Harry,1989 [38]), although
there is considerable debate over whether homosexuality is a risk factor
for suicide (see Blumenthal 1991; Snelling, 1991)." (8:173)
In the same issue of American Psychologist, the authors of Depression
in adolescence also alerted professionals about problems affecting
GLB youth. "Gay and lesbian youth have a two- to threefold risk of suicide
(Gibson,
1989 [24] ), and they are probably
at greater risk for depression"(9:158).
By 1995, little was yet to be noted
with respect to the GLB suicide problems in the field of Suicidology. In
a Spring 1995 Special Issue of SLTB (Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour)
titled Suicide Prevention Toward the Year 2000, the existence of
GLB youth was not mentioned in the articles discussing youth aged 12-18
and 18-30 (10,
11).
Neither was the issue raised in the SLTB Summer 1995 paper Research
in adolescent suicide: Implication for training, service delivery, and
public policy (12), nor in the
SLTB Fall 1995 paper Psychosocial correlates of suicide attempts among
junior and senior high school students (13).
In the Spring Special Issue of SLTB,
however, the GLB suicide issue was addressed by Eve K. Moscicki, but not
in a positive way. "A second misconception is that gay and lesbian youth
account for a large proportion of suicides, and that sexual orientation
is a major risk factor. This hypothesis has not been tested in carefully
designed studies." Noting some of the problems related to doing this, she
went on to dismiss the idea that gay males are more at risk for suicide,
as based on the result of the 1986 San Diego Suicide Study (to be
discussed later in this paper). A few research papers about the GLB youth
suicide problem were cited with the conclusion: "[I]t is not clear, however
whether it [sexual orientation] independently contributes to increased
risk. Unfortunately, no information is available from unbiased samples"
(14:32).
Are GLB people in general, and GLB
youth in particular, at higher risk for manifesting suicide behaviours
than their heterosexual counterparts? A brief summary of suicide-related
observations recorded over the last 150 years does suggest that such a
problem has existed in gay communities, the causes being either unique
to gay males, or predominantly applying to them.
