QTBIPOC Mental Health and Well-Being

Produced by the HRC Foundation

LGBTQ+ people of color, similar to their broader LGBTQ+ community, experience alarmingly high rates of mental health challenges. It disrupts their daily lives and can be life-threatening, especially for children and youth.

Over a majority of LGBTQ+ adults of color in the United States are facing significant mental health challenges today. LGBTQ+ high schoolers of color are also more likely to attempt suicide (27%) compared to LGBTQ+ high schoolers (22%) and non-LGBTQ+ high schoolers (5%) in the United States.

[Disclaimer: This resource discusses suicide and other sensitive content. If you or someone you know is in suicidal crisis or emotional distress, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and 1-800-273-8255.]

The State of Mental Health in LGBTQ Communities of Color

We know that LGBTQ+ people who are BIPOC often face barriers to treatment and care because of mistrust of the medical community, and high uninsurance rates among many other societal injustices. In the United States, more than one-quarter (28%) of LGBTQ+ adults of color have no health insurance coverage, compared to 8% of all adults.

While LGBTQ+ adults of color experience similar rates of mental health challenges as LGBTQ+ adults generally, they receive unequal rates of diagnoses. A rate of 29% of LGBTQ+ adults of color say they have been diagnosed with a depressive order from a provider, compared to 39% of the LGBTQ+ adults broadly, a ten point gap. Moreover, only 35% of LGBTQ+ youth of color receive emotional counseling.

Our mental health is important — and we must find solutions to address these inequities. To learn more about mental health in the entire LGBTQ+ community, see our other resource.

Below we’ve compiled resources for QTBIPOC mental health and wellness.

LGBTQ+ Crisis/Suicide Prevention Hotlines & Warmline

*Not LGBTQ+ specific but LGBTQ+ inclusive

Notes:

  • A note about accessing hot/warmlines: internet usage and cell phone logs may be monitored and it is impossible to totally conceal usage information. Most resources that offer both chat and telephone resources recommend calling in if users are concerned their internet traffic may be monitored.

  • A note about confidentiality: although many resources say their services are confidential and they will only involve law enforcement or other services upon request, it is important to ask the staff member directly (or investigate the policies on the resource’s website, if available) to understand their specific confidentiality policies.

Transgender Community

LGBTQ+ & BIPOC Communities

LGBTQ+ Youth

LGBTQ+ Adults

All Ages

Finding Treatment and Resources

We partnered with Mental Health America to develop questions to help QTBIPOC find affirming mental health providers here.

*HRC does not evaluate nor endorse the background, training, affirmativeness or skill of anyone included in these directories.

Mental Health Screening

Did you know online screening is one of the quickest and easiest ways to determine whether you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition?
Take this confidential, online mental health screening test courtesy of our partners at Mental Health America.

Mental Health & Wellness Organizations

Mental Health Blogs, Resources, Videos & Webinars from HRC

Blogs & Resources

Videos & Webinars

Download

The State of Mental Health in LGBTQ Communities of Color

Download PDF

The Human Rights Campaign reports on news, events and resources of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that are of interest to the general public and further our common mission to support the LGBTQ+ community.

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