J. Bradford et al., NATIONAL-LESBIAN-HEALTH-CARE-SURVEY - IMPLICATIONS FOR MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 62(2), 1994, pp. 228-242
This ar-ticle presents demographic, lifestyle, and mental health infor
mation about 1,925 lesbians from all 50 states who participated as res
pondents in the National Lesbian Health Care Survey (1984-1985), the m
ost comprehensive study on U.S. lesbians to date. Over half the sample
had had thoughts about suicide at some time, and 18% had attempted su
icide. Thirty-seven percent had been physically abused as a child or a
dult, 32% had been raped or sexually attacked, and 19% had been involv
ed in incestuous relationships while growing up. Almost one third used
tobacco on a daily basis, and about 30% drank alcohol more than once
a week, 6% daily. About three fourths had received counseling at some
time, and half had done so for reasons of sadness and depression. Lesb
ians in the survey also were socially connected and had a variety of s
ocial supports, mostly within the lesbian community. However, few had
come out to all family members and coworkers. Level of openness about
lesbianism was associated with less fear of exposure and with more cho
ices about mental health counseling.