Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Individuals

Abstract

Sexual minoriti es are a group seldom studied in Sri Lanka though they undergo discriminati on and sti gma which may lead to an increase in mental health issues. In order to further understand this, the present study aimed to explore prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and stress among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in Sri Lanka. To meet the objecti ves of the study, data was gathered from 162 LGBT individuals in Sri Lanka who were 18 years and older using snowball sampling method. The original and translated and validated Sinhala versions of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS 21) were used to gather data along with a demographic questi onnaire. Questi onnaires were distributed through online methods. It was found that 70.4% of parti cipants indicated presence of depression with 34.6% indicati ng extremely severe levels of depression, while 29.6% indicated no presence of depression. Furthermore, 66.7% of parti cipants indicated presence of anxiety with 34% indicati ng extremely severe levels of anxiety, while 33.3% parti cipants indicated no presence of anxiety. Lastly, 66.7% of parti cipants indicated presence of stress with 25.9% indicati ng extremely severe levels of stress, while 33.3% of parti cipants indicated no presence of stress. These fi ndings highlight signifi cant mental health challenges faced by LGBT individuals in Sri Lanka, indicati ng the need for targeted mental health interventi ons.