40% of LGBTQ+ youth have considered suicide, new CDC study finds

LGBTQ+ youth experience greater rates of mental health issues and are more likely to consider and attempt suicide, a new survey from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), has found.

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was published on Tuesday, and the findings surrounding queer youth are disheartening. In addition to the results about suicidal ideation and low mental health, queer youth were also more likely to misuse prescription opioids and to experience violence.

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Dr. Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s division of adolescent and school health, told ABC News that “Across all of those outcomes that we looked at, experience of violence, poor mental health and suicidal thoughts and behaviors, we do see this really significant disparity between LGBTQ+ young people and their cisgender and heterosexual peers.”

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“That has been the case for a while,” she added.

The study, which occurred in 2023, surveyed thousands of high-school-aged youth from public and private schools between grades 9 and 12 across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or another non-heterosexual identity are considered LGBTQ+ in the survey. It was also the first time transgender students have been included.

“It’s the first time that we’re really able to look at that group as a whole, and the findings are quite stark, as they have been in previous years,” Ethier said.

The study found that more than three in five LGBTQ+ youth experience “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” and in general poor mental health.

65% of LGBTQ+ youth said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness during the past year compared to 31% of cisgender and heterosexual peers. 53% said they experienced poor mental health during the last 30 days in comparison to 21% of their straight and cisgender peers.

The survey further found that 41% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year and one in five LGBTQ+ youth made a suicide attempt.

Nearly three in 10 LGBTQ+ students said they were bullied at school and nearly two in 10 missed school because of safety concerns.

LGBTQ+ youth were also more likely to use, and misuse, substances. LGBTQ+ high school students were about twice as likely to have used illicit drugs and prescription opioids, as well as more likely to drink alcohol or consume marijuana. 26% of LGBTQ+ students said they drank alcohol in the past 30 days compared to 21% of cisgender and heterosexual students. 25% of LGBTQ+ students said they used marijuana, as compared to 14% of their peers.

While only 8% of cisgender and heterosexual students said they had used or misused illicit drugs or prescription opioids,  18% of LGBTQ+ students reported having misused prescription opioids and 15% reported having used illicit drugs.

The same is true for prescription opioids, as 7% of LGBTQ+ youth said they had misused drugs like codeine, Vicodin, OxyContin, Hydrocodone or Percocet in the last 30 days. Only 3% of cisgender and heterosexual students said the same.

The CDC noted that some schools have put in policies and support systems targeting suicidal thoughts and negative mental health which has been effective at decreasing those rates.

“We also know how to make things better for LGBTQ+ young people, and so we know that there are things that their schools could be doing to make them feel safer and more supported and that when their schools do that, not only do LGBTQ+ young people do better, but their heterosexual peers do better as well,” said Ethier.

“And so, we are really focused on making sure that we can do everything that we can do to get those effective policies and practices out there for schools and so that they can create better environments for those young people.”

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