A report by the Department of Health’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals are more likely to engage in drug and substance abuse compared to their heterosexual counterparts. There is a major lack of data when it comes to the field of addiction among the sexual minority groups. While a lot of effort has been increasingly directed towards the underrepresented groups based on age, gender, and ethnicity, there is a pronounced lack of data regarding the members of the LGBT group. I recently discovered some high-quality, national data about this group, and this is the reason why I this paper focuses on the LGBTs ( Gutierrez-Morfin, 2018).
Nearly 40 percent of the individuals who identify themselves as LGBTs claim to be addicted to illicit drugs, specifically tobacco and alcohol, in comparison to the 17 percent reported by the straight individuals. The LGBT adults also reported much higher rates of cigarette use and drinking, and they have a likelihood of more than twice as the heterosexual adults to have experienced mental illness in the recent year. While some of these illnesses are genetic in origin, most of them have their roots in the issue of drug and substance abuse that is prevalent among the LGBTs. The rate of alcohol consumption among the lesbians is almost double that of their straight counterparts (15 percent to 29 percent), and a similar gap is observed among the gay men (19 percent to 34 percent). About 16 percent of LGBTs drink at levels that place them in a danger of addiction and dependency in comparison to the mere 4 percent observed among the heterosexual population ( Gutierrez-Morfin, 2018).
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Transgender individuals have twice more a likelihood of being diagnosed with mental illnesses compared to cisgender individuals. The research by SAMHSA found that approximately 92 percent of the LGBT individuals that sought treatment in the 2014 was diagnosed with an Axis 1 disorder compared to the 78 percent sexually straight patients. These results are in line with other studies that show that LGBTs are two to three times more likely compared to heterosexual individuals to consider suicide. These sexual minority adults have been recipients of rejection and discrimination both from their families and the society around them, and most of them, tend to turn to alcohol to self-medicate ( LGBTData, 2018).
This report’s findings could be interpreted as a silver lining as far as the LGBT community is concerned because there is an evident proof that these individuals are in dire need of substance abuse treatment. It is good to note that this group of people is increasingly becoming more comfortable with the idea of visiting health experts and seeking help. One of the key ways of addressing the substance abuse disparity observed among the LGBTs is by opening doors for more education and more research for the healthcare providers and the victims themselves. The topic on how to address the drug abuse and addiction issues among the LGBTs is not taught in residences and medical school, hence the lack of knowledge on the same. It is important for more research to be undertaken on the topic to gain a better understanding of the increased dependence and use of alcohol, cigarettes, and other illicit products ( Substance Abuse Factors among LGBTQ Individuals, 2018).
References
Gutierrez-Morfin, N. (2018). The report finds lesbian, gay and bi adults have higher drug abuse rates. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/report-lesbian-gay-bi-adults-face-higher-substance-abuse-rates-n671876
LGBT data. (2018). Substance Abuse. Retrieved from http://www.lgbtdata.com/substance-abuse.html
Substance Abuse Factors Among LGBTQ Individuals. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/education/bcr/addiction-research/lgbtq-substance-abuse-ru-116
