OPINION: The coronavirus pandemic risks an LGBT+ mental health crisis

Hugo Minchin (MBACP) is the director, co-founder and a counsellor at Talk to the Rainbow, a centre for LGBT+ therapy in Bristol


COVID-19 has created an unprecedented wave of mental health issues as the virus has spread from country to country. It is one that will leave its mark on communities across the globe and across generations.

Like many other minority groups, there are worrying indicators that the LGBT+ community, already vulnerable, is suffering disproportionately as a result of coronavirus and the measures that we have all had to take to contain it.

As therapists working under the LGBT+ umbrella, we are all too aware that there existed a disproportionate prevalence of mental health issues within the community pre-Covid 19.

The rates of people who identify as LGBT+ and suffer from depression, shame, anxiety, suicidal ideation and substance misuse are much higher than for non-LGBT+ people. Read more via Openly/Reuters