LGBTQ+

Sexuality and Mental Health

Sexuality is the way that a person describes sexual, emotional and physical feelings or attractions a person has towards another person. A person can be attracted to others of the same gender or a different gender or may not feel any sexual attraction at all. Everyone is different.

Different terms are used to describe the different ways that individuals identify themselves. There are links below for Young Minds and Stonewall who have more information regarding this.

How can sexuality affect a young person’s mental wellbeing? An individual can:

Feel different from others.
Be labelled with a certain stereotype.
Experience discrimination due to their sexuality.
Be bullied and treated differently.
Feel uncomfortable or unsafe showing affection towards a partner in public.
Feel ‘invisible’ without others around who identify similarly.
Suffer due to lack of support from those close and important to them e.g. family.
Suffer due to not being accepted by others including family and friends.
People mislabel their sexuality.

A young person can also be affected if they witness someone being abused or mistreated because of their sexuality or if someone experiences discrimination. Here are some of the ways a young person can be affected:

Afraid to come out and afraid of what others would say, think and how they’d respond.
Feel like they need to hide their sexuality.
Feeling under pressure to give a label to their sexuality before being sure themselves.
Feeling confused about their sexuality.
Feeling the need to change their sexuality and be a different person with a different identity.
Feeling self-conscious around others.
Difficulty meeting others with the pressure of feeling the need to disclose their sexuality.
Feeling lonely and isolated.

For any young person feeling anxious or confused about their sexuality or in need of more information, support is available. In school, the Head of Year is a good person to talk to and share any difficult feelings and worries. They can also arrange for further support if needed.

Here are some useful contacts for information, advice and support:

Helplines (Webchat is available for some)

Childline 0800 1111

Papyrus 0800 068 4141

Meic 080880 23456

Samariaid 116 123

Gwasanaeth nyrsio 07312 263 262

Websites

Young Minds https://www.youngminds.org.uk/

Anna Freud https://www.annafreud.org/

Papyrus UK https://www.papyrus-uk.org/

Charlie Waller Trust https://www.charliewaller.org/