Tuesday Twink

'Quarter of young gay men in Northern Ireland have attempted suicide'
Nearly two thirds considered killing themselves and 30% self harmed, a survey disclosed.

The scale of the hidden emotional torment among non-heterosexual men, aged under 25, emerged in findings in advance of a major national conference in Belfast which will consider calls on the British Government to fund training and resources on different sexual orientations to all professionals working with young people, including teachers, youth workers and health and social services staff.
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Three years of research among 190 young men which was carried out by the Rainbow Project revealed one third were diagnosed as having a mental illness at some time in their lives with almost as many having had a potential psychiatric disorder.

A quarter had attempted suicide; over two thirds thought about taking their own lives while four out of five who had suicidal thoughts indicated they were related to same sex attraction.

Among the key factors which contributed to suicidal thoughts and self harm were homonegative experiences in school, bullying, homophobia from other pupils and neighbours.


According to the survey, different factors which affected their mental health were:

:: Difficulties in accepting their sexuality

:: A shortage of people who understood what they were going through

:: Homophobia at home, within society and at schools, even among teaching staff.

:: Loneliness and isolation.