Experiences of discrimination and mental health treatment seeking among LGBQ plus Veterans

Abstract: Veterans who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and other minoritized sexual orientations (LGBQ+) experience significant stigma-related barriers to health care, including discrimination in care settings, which can lead to avoiding needed services. While research on general health care utilization is a growing area, mental health help seeking remains understudied in LGBQ+ veterans. Using data from an ongoing longitudinal study of heterosexual (n = 3,085), gay or lesbian (n = 179), and bisexual (n = 164) veterans, we examined mental health treatment seeking, satisfaction with and helpfulness of service use, utilization of other sources of support, and the association between discriminatory experiences and both use and perceptions of care. Results indicated that after controlling for mental health symptom severity (i.e., anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder), there were no differences in mental health care utilization between heterosexual and gay/lesbian or bisexual veterans. There were also no differences in satisfaction with care or helpfulness of care. However, for bisexual veterans, more experiences of discrimination were related to lower ratings of helpfulness and satisfaction. Additionally, bisexual veterans were less likely to utilize support from family, religious leaders, and medical doctors compared with heterosexual veterans. Overall, these results indicate that there are differences in help-seeking behaviors among LGBQ+ veterans and that bisexual veterans may have particular difficulty accessing helpful support.

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