MENTAL ILLNESS

The British Journal of Psychiatry (2004) 185: 479-485
© 2004 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Rates and predictors of mental illness in gay men, lesbians and bisexual men and women
Results from a survey based in England and Wales

James Warner, MD
Department of Psychiatry, Imperial College London

Eamonn McKeown, PhD
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences

Mark Griffin, MSc
Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London

Katherine Johnson, PhD
School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton

Angus Ramsay, MA, Clive Cort, BA and Michael King, MD
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, UK

Correspondence: Dr James Warner, Department of Psychiatry, Imperial College London, Paterson Centre, 20 South Wharf Road, London W2 1PD, UK. Tel: 020 7886 1655; fax: 020 7886 1995; e-mail: j.warner@imperial.ac.uk

Declaration of interest None.

Background There is a dearth of research into the mental health of gay men, lesbians and bisexual men and women in the UK.

Aims To assess rates and possible predictors of mental illness in these groups.

Method A comprehensive assessment was made of the psychological and social well-being of a sample of gay men, lesbians and bisexual men and women, identified using ‘snowball’ sampling.

Results Of the 1285 gay, lesbian and bisexual respondents who took part, 556 (43%) had mental disorder as defined by the revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS - R). Out of the whole sample, 361 (31%) had attempted suicide. This was associated with markers of discrimination such as recent physical attack (OR=1.7, 95% CI 1.3-2.3) and school bullying (OR=1.4, 95% CI 1.1-2.0), but not with higher scores on the CIS-R.

Conclusions Gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women have high levels of mental disorder, possibly linked with discrimination.