Members of the LGBTQ+ community are at a higher risk for experiencing mental health conditions, especially depression and anxiety disorders.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), LGB adults are more than twice as likely as heterosexual adults to experience a mental health condition, and transgender individuals are nearly four times as likely as cisgender individuals to experience a mental health condition.
Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and religious division are only fueling the problem. During the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions, 20 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in North Carolina with five passing. The Trevor Project found that 71% of LGBTQ youth say their mental health is declining due to restrictive state laws and the debates surrounding them.
Melissa Harris first sought help from a therapist after a dangerous relationship nearly cost her everything. She recalls the moment she realized she was not taking care of herself and was instead making excuses for other people.
Harris was in a relationship with a man at the time and after a drug-fueled incident that damaged both property and family relationships, she knew she needed help. “I’m losing myself, and it was nuts,” says Harris. She says she was spousal raped by him regularly. “I would come home from work every night and I would go into the bathroom, and I would do crossword puzzles and, you know, have a glass of wine in the bathroom with the door shut waiting for him to go to sleep.”
She went to her primary care physician who recommended that she talk to someone, giving her the number to a local therapist in Charlotte.
Harris got the help she needed, talking through things, and understanding that she deserved better.
After a while, she found that she no longer needed the treatment and stopped going. “Then one day, I wasn’t feeling so great,” says Harris, recalling a depression that led her to thoughts of suicide. “I’m driving and I really wanted to turn my car into a guard rail, so I called her, and I said, ‘I need a tune-up.’”
I Need Someone Who Looks Like Me
With mental health support, Harris had addressed her depression, anger, personal body shaming and more. Both of her parents suffered from depression, and she jokingly says that she came by it (mental illness) honestly. Today, she is also dealing with the mental health aspects of menopause and identifies as a queer woman.
Needing to find a therapist that she could connect with, Harris turned to PsychologyToday.com. The website claims to be the world’s largest portal to psychotherapy, including free access to hundreds of thousands of professionals. “I need my demographic,” says Harris. “I need somebody brown, somebody who’s older.” The website allows you to see which providers are LGBTQ+ friendly and affirming as well.
Harris has a job now that includes mental health benefits, but that wasn’t always the case. Years ago, a friend drove from Surfside Beach, S.C., to Charlotte to introduce her to a new therapist who provided free therapy to her for two years. Harris was working as a freelancer at the time and couldn’t afford health insurance.
According to Campaign for Southern Equality, Black LGBTQ people in North Carolina are more likely to delay seeking medical care due to high out-of-pocket costs. On top of that, the state’s behavioral health systems have been underfunded for decades. In October, state officials announced $835 million in a “once-in-a-lifetime investment” in mental health in North Carolina.
Some of that money will fund new mobile crisis teams and respite facilities over two years. These programs are aimed at creating alternatives to emergency rooms, where many in crisis end up. Respite facilities create a therapeutic environment with behavioral health workers and often peer support specialists – people with lived experiences.
Harris says that therapy has been important for her overall health and happiness over the years.
“I have found that therapy has put me in a place where I am comfortable single. I am comfortable in my home,” says Harris. “I’m actually learning that I really deserve to be peaceful.”
She walks her dogs every day and finds herself enjoying each moment. Her mental health journey continues, and she now has the tools to identify when she needs a little extra help.
“When I woke up the other day, I said, ‘Why do I feel kind of blue?’… So, I just took it easy, gave myself some grace.” She realized that it was her late father’s birthday. “He would have been 86 this year,” she says.
“Therapy has taught me that I can help myself by exhausting the why.” After realizing what was causing her depression – a disconnect from family – she picked up the phone. “Why am I feeling this way? Well, I just keep moving until I get an answer.”
A Passion Between Art and Life
Part of Harris’ joy today comes from her crafting or artmaking and her involvement in the Kadampa Meditation Center in Charlotte. Earlier this year, she started Poetry and Notions, a company to sell her handmade jewelry.
Creative arts therapy is often used in clinical settings. In the 1940s, healthcare providers noticed that people with mental illness would express themselves through art. Studies show that artmaking can help people focus, increase self-esteem and assist with processing emotions.
According to the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, “making or even just seeing art can impact the brain.”
From the Mayo Clinic’s website, whether it’s part of a creative arts therapy exercise, or something you experience in your everyday life, art can help:
- Increase serotonin levels.
- Increase blood flow to the part of the brain associated with pleasure.
- Foster new ways of thinking.
- Imagine a more hopeful future.
For LGBTQ+ people, it also provides an opportunity to explore our identity and address past-trauma. According to Ray White, a therapist with Chicago’s IntraSpectrum Counseling, a behavioral health practice dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community, “identity narratives historically have excluded LGBTQ+ perspectives and ways of being.” He states that identity exploration can be strained by masking, micro or macroaggressions, disenfranchisement or being closeted.
Art provides a unique alternative.
For Harris, it is another integral part of her much happier life today. She refers to her artmaking as meditative and calming.
She makes malas and bracelets, focusing on putting positive energy into the work. “It gives me something to do that’s productive. And I love seeing something go from a simple something to a fantastic thing that somebody can keep.” She says that it brings her joy to see people happy made by her hands.
If you are in need of immediate help, use these LGBTQ+ resources:
- If you are thinking about hurting yourself, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
- If you are a LGBTQ+ youth who is thinking about hurting yourself or is in crisis, call The Trevor Project’s 24-Hour Suicide Prevention Hotline at 866-488-7386.
- If you are a transgender person in crisis or needing support, call the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860.
- The LGBT National Help Center provides free and confidential peer-support, information and local resources through national hotlines and online programs. Visit lgbthotline.org for more information.
- Depression Looks Like Me (depressionlookslikeme.com) was created with help from and for the LGBTQ+ community by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, in partnership with Mental Health America, NAMI, National Coalition for LGBTQ Health, SAGE Advocacy & Services for LGBTQ+ Elders, Black Emotional and Mental Health (BEAM) Collective, Sound Mind and the Trans Latin Coalition. The website provides personal stories and resources to better understand depression and available treatments.