A number of studies have been done with regard to the prevalence of suicide amongst LGBT youth when compared to their heterosexual counterparts, which may suggest that LGBT youth are more prone to ending their own lives prematurely.1
The Greater Chicago/Illinois Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is hosting a free webinar about the issue next Thursday (4 September) from 7:30-8:45 PM. From the organization’s website:
Suicide Risk & Prevention Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenter, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Youth, presented by Dr. Brian Mustanski, Asst. Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry at University of Illinois at Chicago. This webinar will describe research on suicide risk among LGBTQ, report on new findings on the role of family and peer support in promoting mental health of LGBTQ youth and will provide practical advice on what you can do to help support LGBTQ youth in your family and community. There is no charge to participate in this webinar, however connection lines are limited and pre-registration is required by emailing Illinois@afsp.org.
1 I did a little research in Academic Search Premier through the library and found an interesting article about the media misconstruing study results. It was published in the Journal of LGBT Health Research and is titled Contested Conclusions: Claims That Can (and Cannot) Be Made from the Current Research on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Teen Suicide Attempts. Although the article is not available through our electronic subscriptions, the article was part of the sample issue (PDF) made available on the publisher’s website.
Thanks to Jill for the information!
