LGB Individuals Are More Likely to Have Mental Health Disorders

Data from the 2021 and 2022 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health showed that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are more likely to have substance use and mental health disorders. The data, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), echoes historical data on the mental health of LGBTQ individuals.

The data evaluated substance use rates, including marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, and other illicit drugs. According to the survey, gay women are the most likely to have heavy alcohol use, with 10.9% reporting heavy alcohol use in the past month. Comparatively, only 4.4% of straight women reported heavy alcohol use.

Across all illicit drug use, bisexual females were the most likely to report using illicit drugs, with nearly 50% (49.7%) reporting illicit drug use in the past year. Similarly, bisexual males were more likely to have used illegal drugs in the past year, at 49.5%. Conversely, straight women and men reported much lower rates of illicit drug use at 20.4% and 26.7%, respectively.

Bisexual individuals across both sexes were more likely to misuse opioids than their straight counterparts. For example, 10.1% of bisexual females reported opioid misuse in the past year, while less than 3% of straight females reported similar drug misuse. Additionally, 7.4% of bisexual males reported opioid misuse, significantly more than 3.5% of straight males.

These rates of use and misuse bleed into the high rates of substance use disorders across bisexual individuals. Roughly 32% of all bisexual individuals have had a substance use disorder in the past year.

Beyond analyzing substance use, the statistics also reflected higher rates of mental illness among bisexual patient populations. The highest rates of severe mental illness were among bisexual females, as 19.5% reported serious mental illness in the past year. Similarly, 14.4% of bisexual males reported severe mental illness.

“The findings in this report particularly underscore how these issues affect bisexual adults. However, these findings do not explain the reasons for these differences, such as the influence of stressors that are unique to people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex (LGBTQI+),” wrote SAMHSA officials in the report.