Lesbians in New Zealand: their mental health and satisfaction with mental health services

Objectives: To describe the mental health of lesbians in New Zealand, and t o 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 Intera ction (ISSI), and respondents' histories of sexual abuse and psychiatric hi stories. Experiences of mental health services were sought. Results: The estimated response rate was 50.8%. The respondent group were p redominantly 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 menta l health services sometime in their lives and nearly 30 percent of users ha d received 'lesbian-unfriendly' treatment at some point. One-sixth of respo ndents had experienced discrimination from service providers in the previou s 5 years. Conclusion: While the mental health of lesbians is influenced by factors si milar to those influencing women's mental health in general, because of soc ial factors, such as stigma and isolation, lesbians may be more vulnerable to common mental illnesses. Health professionals, mental health professiona ls in particular, need to raise their awareness of the issues lesbians face in dealing with their sexuality, therapeutic relationships and mental heal th services. Increased training about sexuality for health professionals, a s well as further research into areas such as stress and stigma, sexual abu se and attempted suicide among lesbian women, is recommended.