For LGBT People, Discrimination Still Brings Mental Health Challenges. | Big Think
For LGBT People, Discrimination Still Brings Mental Health Challenges.
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It wasn’t until 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder. The recency of that decision still affects the LGBT community today. It opens the door to discrimination. Discrimination contributes to higher rates of depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Dr. James Dilley of the Alliance Health Project discusses its effects, and the impact that a continued shift toward acceptance can have.
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JAMES DILLEY:
Dr. James Dilley is Executive Director of Alliance Health Project in San Francisco, CA. He is also a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine. Dr. Dilley specializes in AIDS research, in particular the effects of AIDS in conjunction with substance abuse.
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TRANSCRIPT:
James Dilley: You know, it wasn’t until 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association, after a fairly lengthy period of debate, discussion, and advocacy, voted to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder. Discrimination, you know, comes in, of course, in many forms. And the psychological and the social implications of those are, you know, they’re not insignificant. So if you do surveys of physicians and health care providers about their attitudes towards LGBT people, 20 to 30 percent say, you know, “I’m really not comfortable providing this kind of care.” Does one come out on an application to college or to medical school or to law school or, you name it. These are questions that people struggle with even to this very day — 90 percent or so of LGBT kids definitely say that they’ve experienced this kind of thing on, kind of on a daily basis. Whether it’s being told or being called “faggot” or whatever, made to feel badly because they’re different. These kinds of things over time, sort of add up.
Discrimination, actual and perceived, then this expectation that develops for those events, results in lower self-esteem, difficulty with relationships, difficulty with one’s own, feeling happy about one’s own life. There is probably a two-and-a-half or so times likelihood of mental health disorders or problems among LGBT folks. Depression, anxiety, substance use in particular. In particular for women, actually, about three-and-a-half times rate of substance use disorders among lesbians and bisexual women. There are higher rates of, certainly attempted suicide among LGBT communities. Exactly how many of those are completed is harder to know. But I could certainly say just from our clinical work over the years, it’s certainly not an uncommon kind of scenario, unfortunately. There’s just no question that today is just 180 degrees different than the way it was when I was growing up in small towns in the Midwest. As a middle-aged man, suddenly I was able to fight in the armed services when DOMA went down in the ’90s. Now, today, I can actually be married in all 50 states. The fact that that has happened over this period of, what, 50 years or so is really quite remarkable. As those negative attitudes lessen, I can’t help but think that there’s going to be lesser mental health problems among LGBT folks.
It wasn’t until 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association voted to remove homosexuality as a mental disorder. The recency of that decision still affects the LGBT community today. It opens the door to discrimination. Discrimination contributes to higher rates of depression, substance abuse, and suicide. Dr. James Dilley of the Alliance Health Project discusses its effects, and the impact that a continued shift toward acceptance can have.
@nullprophet10
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
i just typed in how to deal with discrimination and this came up. guys i dont know what to do im 23 trans fem. ive done everything my peers can''t even dream off, im succesful for my age, and still i get discriminated everywhere. everyone just assumes im retarded. but who cares about random ppeople. well how about your own family. how about your girlfriends family. what d i do when my gfs mom says she can't date me. i feel so powerless. i was suicidal for a year. and somehow i clawed my way back out. but the world somehow keeps findig new ways to fuck me over and im here like what have i even done to deserve thiss shit you know. all i can do is comment here, what else can do
@stephaniegraham3076
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Watch that what’s your mouth in the bed and the gay people watch it watch your mouth I was gonna boot you off and put you off on YouTube no don’t say that make it more gross don’t even say that again no quit and that’s enough mean mean mean so mean of yourself suffer twat though they’re mean
@personaluse1831
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Is it not weird that the lgbtq insist respect and acceptance while they do not exercise that respect and acceptance towards those people who do not have same views as theirs?
@chelseaizcool8006
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
The homophobes is the comments are really jumping out right now 😳
@Ty-qv3ml
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
90% of the time, people become gay because they where neglected within their upbringing.
@archyleach
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
It's called comorbity.
@mollybunn
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
I’m tired of the drama from LGBTQ people. I’m gonna stop watching these videos because the drama and hatred is unbearable. I’ll just let god be the judge of your life. Idk man. This is stressing me out.
@incrediblemr.e8765
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
The Constitution guarantees that you can treat anybody however you want. Suck it up
@joelim5010
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
At this point, being Gay isn't the problem anymore. Its the sissies that want us to call them "Maam" a problem. Gays can still act like mens or womens, they just have different preferences. I'm ashame to live in todays society as everyone thinks abnormal activities are natural and ok. Fuck no, you don't choose what you want to be. You were born into this.
@Slapjack88
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
And we're supposed to care, why?
@nocturne6548
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Interesting how this video doesn't cover the bullying within the lgbt community. The lgbt community has to stop acting like a bunch of victims, when most of their problems are from within the community and not from outside of it!
@GodsStrongestScroller
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Being dicriminated doesn't cause mental problems being LGBT does
@thatbitch1027
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
why does homophobia even exist? like get a job. as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody, why should we care??
@abram1349
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
yeah after I tell people i take pills they stop talking to me
@SalvatoreEscoti
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
what about the suicides and depressions WITHIN. the gay community. Because of body fascism shallownes and mostly superficial and hedonistic people, interested only in their six packs and their next holiday on a gay hotspot. We became even worse than the hypocritical straight community. Our Gay male community has its own, VERY rigid stencil, based on youth, muscularity, penis size and drug abuse, if someone doesent fit in, he will be ignored and/or rejected!
@anthonysmith-dg1tg
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
LOVE IS LOVE RIGHT? WRONG GODLY LOVE / FLESHLY LUST ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS ONE IS GODLY THE OTHER IS ungodly LUSTFILLED SEXUAL PERVERTED DESIRES ARE OBIMNATIONS TO GOD YES HE LOVES YOU BUT NOT YOUR SINFULL LUSTFILLED SEXUAL PERVERTED DESIRE T GODLY BUT RATHER AGAINST OUR FATHER….THE LIVING BIBLE LEVITICUS 18:22—–ROMANS 1:27-30 CONDEMS LUSTFULL SEX NOT APPROOVED BY OUR FATHER BUT OPPOSITE……HE LOVES US BUT HATES OUR SINNING WAYS AGAINST " HIS AUTHORITY" HE SAYS THE SAME ABOUT BEASTEALITY……ABOMINATION AGAINST OUR CREATOR SORRY THIS OFFENDS THOSE WHO DO NOT WANT THE TRUTH
@ALSPEHEIR
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Should rename this for Liberal Think.
First it was that guy that wanted a gun ban. Nobody cared to bring another dude to give another point of view.
Now this.
Oh well. Unsubscribed. This is not about science anymore.
@SunGod1087
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Emos have questionable mental health
@unlabuntenga
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Enough pc garbage!
@thomascameron2612
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
I have Attention Deficit Disorder. I demand equal rights as someone who has trouble staying focused and on task! Everyone should know this so that I have an excuse to whinge about for when things go wrong. Troubled past at school, depression. You name it I have had it! So you should be worried that I don't have a tanty in the middle of the office. Make sure to take extra special care of me!
Ok enough.
I DO have ADD. It is a serious disorder and I did have depression and trouble with schooling. But you know what? I learned how to deal with it and eventually came to love it. I walk into the office and make everyone's day better (because in school I learned how to hide my sadness and ineptitude with good social skills).
I feel as though (and this is controversial) giving a specific group of people that have historically (according to this video) had significant problems with mental illness to much attention, the attention ceases to be beneficial to them.
Feel free to add your two cents, but please! Keep it civil.
@ulktz
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
People are sick of social and political issues being forced down their throat endlessly by videos like these.
@mattiewho
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
so, I have a history of stone of the mental health issues he was talking about and I also happen to be pansexual. he was saying people in this community are more likely to have these issues, is there any statistics about how much these issues are caused by LGBT reasons? I never felt like any of my depressions or anything was in anyway linked to my sexuality
@edymasta
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
You don't like the content? Well unsubscribe and don't comment about it. It's free content for you watch
@macgyvershe
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
Thanks, as always, for keeping science our main focus.
@MrSanford65
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
That's an incredible arrogance , that the whole world is wrong , and 2 per cent of the population is right . And based on what ? Those of us who know perversion when we see it have human history and biology on our side . And gay marriage had nothing to do with tolerance because the Supreme Court had no tolerance for the constitutional process or national tradition
@kd1s
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
I'm gay and haven't suffered discrimination because of it. But then I'm the type that if you make it an issue you're gonna have to deal with the ration of shit about to be rained upon you.
And in my office where I work – a place with a couple hundred people there are two of us known gay.
@DocTaviaGIANTS
October 17, 2025 at 1:07 am
It's fucking hilarious you all subscribe to a modern philosophy focused channel and get upset when new, progressive ideas are portrayed.
Comments are closed.