Rainbow youth fear discrimination
Many rainbow youth are concerned about facing discrimination when seeking mental health help, research shows.
Some young rainbow people reported counsellors made assumptions about their gender and some were refused service when they revealed their sexuality.
The study, by a trio of Victoria University of Wellington academics, was released in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand on Thursday.
Sophie (she/they), who asked to keep their last name unpublished, stopped seeking mental health help after being discriminated against because or their sexuality.
A counsellor told them they should never have kids because they are bisexual, they said.
‘‘I haven’t felt safe to seek out a counsellor or therapist ever since.
‘‘Me having a child and risking ‘passing on being gay’ to my kids – that’s not an issue. There are reasons why I shouldn’t have any kids, them not being queer is not one of them.’’
Sophie is not alone in their experience.
More than half of rainbow rangatahi found their mental health professionals were ignorant on issues of sexuality and gender, according to the paper.
Rainbow youth make up about 16% of Aotearoa’s young people, but they are disproportionately affected by homelessness and mental health.
Gloria Fraser, a co-author of the article, said Aotearoa’s mental health sector was not doing a good job at serving rainbow youth.
‘‘We’ve got a long way to go. Our mental health system is overstretched and underresourced. In that climate, we don’t always have the time we need to up skill in cultural competency,’’ Fraser said.
‘‘When we’re in crisis mode it can fall by the wayside … but it should be at the forefront of what we’re doing.’’
The paper surveyed more than 950 young people in the rainbow community between aged 14 to 24 on their experiences in New Zealand’s mental health system.
The main issue reported wasn’t outright discrimination, but a lack of knowledge from mental health professionals.
‘‘We can do a lot of harm by accident. By remaining silent on particular issues, or by lacking knowledge we can do real damage to the clients we’re working with. And it’s not always done intentionally,’’ Fraser said.
She was concerned only half of participants found their mental health professionals mostly or extremely helpful.
‘‘We should be aiming for 100%,’’ she said.
The paper calls for rainbow cultural competence training to be included in mental health training programmes and for further professional development in this area.
‘‘When mental health professionals wanted to upskill in this area, there weren’t very many local and accessible resources for them to use,’’ she said.
Fraser created a resource for people to learn more about supporting rainbow youth, based on her research.
But it comes too late for Sophie, who said they were concerned about other young rainbow people seeking mental health care.
‘‘I was only 19. I was still pretty much a kid,’’ they said.
‘‘[My counsellor] made me scared to contact anyone about my mental health. And it’s something that shouldn’t happen to kids.’’
‘‘Our mental health system is overstretched and under-resourced. In that climate, we don’t always have the time we need to upskill in cultural competency. ’’
Gloria Fraser
Study co-author