Washington youth mental health shows best improvement in 20 years

Results show that compared to previous years, depressive feelings among LGBTQ+ youth and those who report having a disability have improved, but these groups still remain more at risk than their peers. Simckes said the data showed one in three LGBTQ+ students were contemplating suicide in 2023, and were twice as likely as their peers to report depressive feelings. 

Ken Shulman, Lambert House executive director, said the findings from the research reflect what their organization sees on the ground. Lambert House is a community center for LGBTQ+ youth in Seattle, offering a variety of social support from counseling to housing. 

“There are many school-aged LGBTQ+ youth in elementary, middle and high school that are still living in the closet because they’re afraid either of harassment by their peers or that their LGBTQ+ identity will reach their parents through their friends and they’re not prepared to deal with the negative consequences at home,” Shulman said. 

Depressive feelings among participants who identify as female were nearly double that of their male-identifying counterparts; more than twice as high for LGBTQ+ youth; and three times higher for students with disabilities. 

Shulman said that although mental health for LGBTQ+ students is improving, this group remains highest for depressive feelings and contemplation of suicide due to the current national political climate. 

“More than 500 legislative bills were introduced last year and the year before in state legislatures around the country, aiming to diminish freedom for LGBTQ people, and especially LGBTQ youth, and the youth are aware of this,” Shulman said. “So at the same time, they’re having more parental support, more stability, more safety in the schools … At the same time, they’re also in the center of a political maelstrom that is not of their own making over which they have little control, but that affects their future.”