Objectives: To describe the mental health of lesbians in New Zealand, and to document their accounts of their experience of mental health services.
Method: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. A postal questionnaire, the Lesbian Mental Health Survey, was distributed via lesbian newsletters to 1222 women throughout New Zealand. Mental health measures included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI), and respondents' histories of sexual abuse and psychiatric histories. Experiences of mental health services were sought.
Results: The estimated response rate was 50.8%. The respondent group were predominantly New Zealand European, highly educated, urban women between 25 and 50 years of age. Three-quarters had identified as lesbian for more than 5 years. Recent self-identification as lesbian was associated with higher GHQ score, as was being younger than 35, having a history of sexual abuse, and not living with a partner. Eighty percent of respondents had used mental health services sometime in their lives and nearly 30 percent of users had received 'lesbian-unfriendly' treatment at some point. One-sixth of respondents had experienced discrimination from service providers in the previous 5 years.
Conclusion: While the mental health of lesbians is influenced by factors similar to those influencing women's mental health in general, because of social factors, such as stigma and isolation, lesbians may be more vulnerable to common mental illnesses. Health professionals, mental health professionals in particular, need to raise their awareness of the issues lesbians face in dealing with their sexuality, therapeutic relationships and mental health services. Increased training about sexuality for health professionals, as well as further research into areas such as stress and stigma, sexual abuse and attempted suicide among lesbian women, is recommended.