Best Colleges has recently published a survey showing that 30 percent of LGBTQIA+ college students have thought about leaving school because of mental health issues. Moreover, almost 60 percent of them declared that their mental health has deteriorated after joining college.
At the same time, a staggering 92 percent stated that their college life was negatively impacted by their mental health. Furthermore, the study revealed that the chance of experiencing mental stability issues increases by about 5% in the case of BIPOC students, in comparison to their LGBTQIA+ counterparts.
The most common mental challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ students are severe anxiety, self-doubt, burnout, depression and even thoughts about committing suicide. The study showed that an average of 68 percent of LGBTQIA+ students have experienced symptoms of the previously-mentioned affections, compared to only 40 percent of the straight students.
Another finding of the study is that almost half of LGBTQIA+ students considered quitting their studies because of their mental health issues. In an interview with USA Today, Jessica Bryant, the author of the study, stated that “If we are seeing less LGBTQIA students completing college, that will mean less LGBTQIA students in the workforce in the end, that’s not good either.” She goes on to explain that a decrease in the number of students identifying themselves as LGBTQIA+ will negatively impact all the efforts made so far for promoting diversity in all its forms.
The survey took place between April and May 2022 and it involved 1000 undergraduate students from the entire territory of the United States. Out of the 1000 students, 308 identified as LGBTQIA+, 673 as straight and 19 of them did not declare a sexual orientation. The participants in the study were between 18 and 26 years old and were pursuing their studies either in college, or university.
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