Ireland’s young LGBTQ population are experiencing significant mental health challenges, according to a recent report from Trinity College Dublin.

According to ‘Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland’, which was published in association with Belong To - LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland, 72% of LGBTQ young people aged 14 to 18 have self-harmed, as have 75% of the transgender and gender non-conforming communities.

In 2016, the first ever comprehensive report on the mental health of Ireland’s LGBTQ community, as well as attitudes of the general public towards LGBTQ people, was conducted by Trinity College and published in association with Belong To and GLEN. That report was based on research conducted by a team at Trinity. The new report, involving more than 2,800 LGBTQ people, builds on the findings from that initial report and includes a comparative analysis.

Key findings from the new study indicate that mental health and wellbeing have declined amongst the LGBTQ population since 2016, with significant challenges experienced by younger age groups and the transgender and gender non-conforming communities. 

In the 631 14- to18-year-olds who participated in the study:

• 50% experienced severe/extremely severe symptoms of depression
• 66% experienced severe/extremely severe symptoms of anxiety
• 41% experienced severe/extremely severe symptoms of stress
• 59% had a possible eating disorder
• 72% had self-harmed
• 77% reported suicidal thoughts
• 33% had made a suicide attempt.

Compared to adolescents (12-19 years) in the My World Survey 2, a national study of youth mental health conducted in 2019 by mental health charity Jigsaw and UCD, LGBTQ young people aged 14-18 in this study had:

• Three times the level of severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression and anxiety
• Three times the level of self-harm
• Two times the level of suicidal thoughts
• Five times the level of suicide attempts.

The ‘Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland’ study can be downloaded at belongto.org/support-our-work/advocacy/lgbtq-research/