Mental Health Treatment Challenges in the LGBTQ+ Community

The LGBTQ+ community faces several unique mental health treatment challenges. A significant percentage of LGBTQ+ youth want to get treatment but are afraid to. So how can you find mental health treatment LGBTQ+ friendly options, and what are the challenges you need to overcome when getting things like depression treatment?

• Among those who identify as LGBTQ+, seventy-three experience anxiety. 
• Nearly twenty percent experience depression almost every day of the week.
• Of those who identify as LGBTQ+, thirty-four percent struggle with substance abuse disorders.

These facts paint a picture of the significant need for depression treatment, anxiety treatment, and drug and alcohol rehab. Yet, many people who need help fail to get professional depression treatment or anxiety treatment.

There are several reasons why minority groups, including the LGBTQ+ community, don’t always get the help that they need. Thankfully, these mental health treatment challenges can be overcome with LGBTQ+-specific programs or gender-specific treatment, informed care, and other specialized mental health treatment programs. 

Mental Health Treatment Challenges

Minority groups regularly struggle with similar mental health treatment challenges due to a lack of resources, limited providers who are competent enough to deal with the challenges specific to that group, and problems with safety and security. 

Competent Providers

One of the first mental health treatment challenges is finding culturally competent providers. A great deal of trauma and triggers for members of the community involve individual life experiences. Without providers who are aware of different beliefs or values across various subgroups, getting treatment might involve accidental retraumatization.

For example, someone who is struggling with their gender identity might need depression treatment from healthcare providers who understand the struggles involved in deciding on gender reassignment surgery. 

Safety

For many individuals, there might be discrimination in the healthcare field that makes getting depression treatment or other types of mental health treatment difficult. Some special needs and disparities exist within these communities, and therapists have to be educated about the culture and the terminology, but they also need to be able to tackle any personal bias that might be influencing the help provided.

Limited Resources

Other issues involved limited resources. Many members of the LGBTQ+ community might not have health insurance coverage that pays for certain treatments.

Mental Health Treatment LGBTQ+

The LGBTQ+ community faces many unique mental health treatment challenges. However, you can still find depression treatment, anxiety treatment, or trauma-informed care close to home. With Centric Group, we can connect you to several treatment centers specializing in things like gender-specific care, co-occurring mental health and addiction treatment, or outpatient programs.

Mental health treatment LGBTQ+ based must be provided by individuals who understand the overlapping sources of stress in a given situation. 

• Clients who are part of a sexual minority might face regular stress from discrimination or bias toward others. This regular stress needs to be treated with coping mechanisms and professional depression treatment.
• Clients starting a new job might have the regular stress associated with starting a new job but experience additional stress if they are transgender and the electronic systems at their offices don’t have a space to change names or pronouns. That client might worry about their boss or other supervisor calling them by different pronouns or other people at work bullying them because of their identity. Professional mental health treatment can offer resources for coping with these unique stresses.
• Clients who are part of a sexual minority might also struggle with overlapping discrimination or stress because they are a person of color, and their race or ethnicity increases the stress or discrimination they experience identifying as LGBTQ+. Gender-specific treatment can ensure safety and security for clients who might feel most comfortable receiving treatment from someone in similar circumstances. 
• Clients who have struggled with trauma may be at a higher risk for retraumatization if they seek help. But with trauma-informed care, clients can address their past in a safe, trigger-free environment.

With Centric Group, we can connect you to specialized LGBTQ+ care and treatment for mental health and addiction, including trauma-informed therapy and gender-specific programs. You can overcome mental health treatment challenges today. 

Reach out to Centric Group today at (844) 233-8205 to learn more about mental health treatment challenges and how you can get help today.