The minority stress model takes into account significant stressors that distinctly affect the mental health of those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or another non-conforming gender identity.
[1] Some risk factors that contribute to declining mental health are heteronormativity, discrimination, harassment, rejection (e.g., family rejection and social exclusion), stigma, prejudice, denial of civil and human rights, lack of access to mental health resources, lack of access to gender-affirming spaces (e.g., gender-appropriate facilities),[2] and internalised homophobia.
[1][3] The structural circumstance where a non-heterosexual or gender non-conforming individual is embedded in significantly affects the potential sources of risk.
[4] Evidence shows that there is a direct association between LGBT individuals' development of severe mental illnesses and the exposure to discrimination.
[1] There is also a lack of empirical research on racial and ethnic differences in mental health status among the LGBT community and the intersection of multiple minority identities.
[5] Based solely on their gender identity and sexual orientation, LGBT individuals face stigma, societal bias, and rejection that increase the likelihood of depression.
[4] Transgender youth who report higher feelings of internalized transphobia are found to be more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for depression.
On the other hand, those who report their perceived physical appearance are consistent with their internal gender identity are less likely to be diagnosed with depression.
[3] Lesbian and bisexual youth have a higher percentage of substance use problems as compared to sexual minority males and heterosexual females.
[7] Substance use such as alcohol and drug use among LGBT individuals can be a coping mechanism in response to everyday stressors like violence, discrimination, and homophobia.
Gay and bisexual men also experience a higher prevalence of full-syndrome bulimia and all subclinical eating disorders than their heterosexual counterparts.
[15] Research has found lesbian women to have higher rates of weight-based self-worth and proneness to contracting eating disorders compared to gay men.
[18] Conflicting studies have struggled to ascertain whether LGBT people of colour experience similar or varying rates of eating disorder proneness or diagnosis.
"[20] Once adopted, these coping mechanisms tend to stick to the person and therefore endanger even more the future mental health of LGBT patients, reinforcing their exposure to depression, extreme anxiety and suicide.