By Joe Kenan, M.D.
State of ASAP
The State of ASAP is excellent. We are financially well off, and we have positioned ourselves to insure a vibrant future. A NEW website is in development; we have gone green (and economical) by having our first Fall Business Meeting by teleconference; and our committees are in full force.
This year’s annual conference in New York City is organized by President-Elect Dean DeCrisce, M.D. The conference promises to be exciting and educational. Start planning now! Rather than step on his punch line, I point you to read his column about the conference.
Suicide among Gay Adolescents
Major news agencies’ reporting of five suicides within three weeks resulted in a national focus on this issue. Prime time television shows including “Dancing with the Stars”, “360 Anderson Copper”, and “Glee” brought special attention as well.
Two particularly notable cases include:
- Tyler Clementi, 18, was a student at Rutgers who jumped off the George Washington Bridge days after his roommate allegedly posted a video on the Internet taken from a hidden webcam of him having sexual relations with another man in his dormitory room. Rutgers University Professor Rob O’Brien revealed to ABC news that his was the second suicide at Rutgers this year. He said the first suicide also related to “sexual orientation” issue. Dr. O’Brien said, “Students have talked about their fears and talked about their need to have safe space and thus far the university hasn’t done anything of substance to address their concerns”. The interview appears at: http://abcnews.go.com/US/rutgers-campus-mourns-loss-18-year-tyler-tyler/story?id=11782324
- California teen Seth Walsh was 13 years old when he hanged himself after years of harassment. “The harassment and the teasing and the taunting just became too much,” Seth’s grandmother, Judy Walsh said at his memorial service. Police interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he died, but determined that their actions do not constitute a crime. More details appear at: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20018025-504083.html
- The statistics on the issue demonstrate the degree of the problem. One of the seminal works, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suicide: Gay Male and Lesbian Youth Suicide” (1989), reports:
o Suicide is the leading cause of death among gay and lesbian youth.
o Gay and lesbian youth are 2 to 6 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual youth.
o Over 30% of all reported teen suicides each year are committed by gay and lesbian youth.
Most recent studies echo these results and focus additional causal factors. I bring your attention to one:
- A 2009 study, “Family Rejection as a Predictor of Negative Health Outcomes,” reported that adolescents who were rejected by their families for being LGBT were 8.4 times more likely to report having attempted suicide.
The above finding demonstrates that family therapy is an essential intervention for psychiatrists working with LGBT adolescents to identify and correct real or perceived rejection.
ASAP Action
On November 10, Cindy McCain appeared in an anti-bullying public service video where she said, “Our political and religious leaders tell LGBT youth that they have no future”. Ellen DeGeneres said on her TV show “We have an obligation to change this. There are messages everywhere that validate this kind of bullying and taunting and we have to make it stop. We can’t allow this to take another kid’s life.”
ASAP does not have any official position on the issue, but ASAP’s Legislative and Judicial Affairs Committee is currently drafting a position statement for ultimate vote by the ASAP membership. As your president, I am interested in your views about this emerging mental health issue, either in person at our upcoming annual meeting or by email.
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