La Trobe University carried out the most extensive study of bisexual people in the world to date and examined why bisexual people experience higher rates of psychological distress than heterosexual and homosexual people.
The Who I Am study questioned more than 2,600 bisexual people across Australia and the study aimed to uncover the reasons for poor mental health in bisexual people. The study discovered an important connection between poor mental health and the following factors:
- Bisexual individuals that are in relationships with heterosexual
- The perception of bisexual people that their sexuality is bad or wrong.
- The thinking of bisexual people that their partner's support or understanding of their sexuality is low
The research has brought about Bi+ Australia, the first national organization set up to improve the mental health of bisexual Australia through support, education, and research.
Julia Taylor who is the Research Officer and who led the research from La Trobe's Australia Research Center in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), confirms that the research is proof that more support is needed to improve the mental health of bisexual people.
Taylor stated that attraction to more than one gender is quite common among Australian adults and most health practitioners are unaware of the very poor mental health associated with this group.
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on lesbian and gay health and that leaves a substantial gap in knowledge specifically on bisexual health needs. With the aid of Who I Am study, the researchers wanted to address this gap and provide GPs and other health professionals with more information on bisexual mental health.
The unique insight the findings has was the challenging life experience bisexual people are going through and how this is impacting their mental health. The joint forces of La Trobe and Bi+ Australia on this study is making a real impact in enhancing the understanding, acceptance, inclusion, and celebration of bisexual in Australia, and hopefully the world.
For the poor mental health in bisexual individual, the research discovered significant statistics demonstrating the poor mental health of cisgender (where their gender is congruent with biological sex) bisexual people:
- One in four have attempted suicide
- Close to 80 percent had considered self-harm or thought about committing suicide
- More than 60 percent have high or very high current psychological distress, with 40 percent reporting having has depression in the past.
- Transgender and gender diverse bisexual people experienced even poorer mental health, and these findings will be released in the coming months.
