Discriminatory legal policies and policing that benefit white heterosexual people may be fueling suicidal ideation and behavior within Black LGBQ communities, Rutgers Health researchers have found. While suicide rates are decreasing among white Americans, trends for Black Americans are heading in the opposite direction, according to experts from the National Institute of Mental Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This increase appears to be most pronounced among LGBQ community members, English said.
“Structural oppression and policing drive everyday discrimination, which is a strong predictor of suicide risk,” said Devin English, an assistant professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health and lead author of the study published in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. “This link was clear for participants in our study.” To read the full story.