Professor Dinesh Bhugra, president of the World Psychiatric Association, told BuzzFeed News that governments around the world need to alter laws and policies in order to confront the “chronic problem” in mental health for LGBT people.
Lynzy Billing / BuzzFeed
Politicians have a "moral and ethical responsibility" to drastically alter laws and policies in order to reduce psychiatric disorders among sexual minorities, says Professor Dinesh Bhugra, president of the World Psychiatric Association.
In an exclusive interview at BuzzFeed News' London office, Bhugra, a former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, called for "radical solutions" to combat the high levels of mental illness among the LGBT population, describing the "clear correlation between political and social environments" and how persecutory laws against LGBT people are leading to greater levels of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide.
A number of studies this year have highlighted the disproportionate levels of mental illness among LGBT people. In Britain, one of the world's most legally equal countries for this community, research in the last few months has revealed that LGBT people are nearly twice as likely to have attempted suicide or harmed themselves, gay men are more than twice as likely to have a mental illness than heterosexual men, and 4 in 5 transgender people have suffered depression in the last five years.
"There is still a lot of homophobia and transphobia, so people feel stigmatised against, and that affects self-esteem and mental health," said Bhugra. "LGBT individuals are still seen as outsiders, not like 'us'. If you've legally ended discrimination, great, but stigma hasn't gone away."
It's clear that in countries with laws that continue to discriminate against LGBT people, there are high rates of mental illness as a result, he said, citing new research data from the University of Foggia in Italy and King's College London – seen by BuzzFeed News – that is yet to be published.
Lynzy Billing / BuzzFeed