Background: suicide is a leading cause of death amongst young people aged 15-29 which has captured concern globally. Amongst this young population, lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) young people are significantly and consistently estimated to have higher rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts than their cisgender (non-trans), heterosexual peers, however why this is the case and how we can prevent is less clear.
Methods: To enhance our understandings of this health inequality, we used in-depth, qualitative interviews to explore contributors to, and protections from, suicide from the perspectives of 24 LGBTQ+ young people living in Scotland with lived experience of suicidal distress, as well as exploring with them what they believed would help prevent LGBTQ+ youth suicide in the future. This data was then analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Findings: Our analysis explored how subtle ‘cultural climates’ that position LGBTQ+ people as ‘different’, were identified as making acts of homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying and hate, and familial non-acceptance of LGBTQ+ youths – sometimes termed minority stress - more possible. Simultaneously, LGBTQ+ young people also experienced a wide range of non-LGBTQ+ specific contributors to suicidal distress such as educational difficulties and adverse childhood experiences, which are often over-looked in favour of factors related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Discussion: This combination of minority and non-minority stresses could engender a sense of what we have termed “queer entrapment”, in which participants at times conceptualised suicide as a way of escaping from a situation they felt there was no alternative available resolution to. In future therefore, whilst it is useful for suicide prevention plans to take into account ways of intervening to tackle homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, it may also be necessary to consider how well more universalised interventions providing suicide support and prevention for all young people are able to cater for the specific needs of LGBTQ+ youths.