Beyond Pride Month: Mental Health, Identity, and Truly Inclusive Care

June 30, 2025
3:21 pm

We are here to help

"*" indicates required fields

Your Details:

First Name*

Last Name*

Date of Birth

Email Address*

Contact Number*

Country

How can Orchestrate Health support you?

Please select your subject of your enquiry…*

Notice: Unauthorised Use of Our Company Name for Clinical Trials

It has come to our attention that adverts are circulating, claiming to represent our company in paid clinical trials. We wish to inform you that these adverts are unauthorised and do not originate from Orchestrate Health.

We take the unauthorised use of our company name seriously and are actively taking measures to have these misleading adverts removed. We want to emphasise that any adverts relating to paid clinical trials using our company name are in no way affiliated with us.

However, we are always here to help. If you would like support for your mental wellbeing we would be happy to help you in any way we can.

Please contact us if you have any concerns.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Show If Not Clinical Trial

Tell us about yourself…*

This optional section helps us get back to you more efficiently and with better accuracy

Preferred contact date

Please answer the following spam prevention question.

What’s the 4th letter of the alphabet?

Private*

I understand that Orchestrate Health is not affiliated with the NHS or private healthcare schemes and is a private self-funded service

Brochure

I would also like to receive a digital brochure relating to my subject of enquiry

Marketing

We’re committed to mental health awareness and often like to share stories and information. If you would rather not receive this feel free to untick this box

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Every June, Pride Month comes as a timely reminder that visibility matters. But visibility alone is not enough. The month is not about ticking boxes or rainbow-washing timelines; but rather it is a powerful opportunity to reflect on how we support the LGBTQIA+ community every single day. Because while Pride offers celebration and solidarity, it must also act as a prompt for lasting change – the kind that moves beyond a single month into sustained, inclusive mental health care.

This is especially vital when we consider the ongoing reality: gay and bisexual men are four times more likely to attempt suicide across their lifetime than the rest of the population¹. Half of LGBTIQ+ people have experienced depression, and three in five have experienced anxiety². one in eight LGBTIQ+ people aged 18 to 24 had attempted to end their life, and almost half of transgender people had thought about taking their life². By contrast, the wider UK population sees 1 in 4 people experiencing any mental health issue annually, and just 1 in 15 attempting suicide³.

These statistics speak to a deeper need for understanding, recognition, and truly inclusive LGBTQIA+ mental health support.

Why Identity Matters in Mental Health

Mental health challenges are not an inevitable part of being in the LGBTQIA+ community. They are, more often, a response to the world around the person. Many that identify to be a part of the LGBTQIA+ community live with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem or isolation – but these challenges are often rooted in stigma, rejection, or societal invisibility, rather than as a direct result of the identity itself^4-5. As Mind UK notes; being LGBTIQIA+ doesn’t cause mental health problems, but experiences such as homophobia, transphobia, discrimination, and social exclusion often do⁴.

These aren’t abstract ideas. Discrimination and perceived prejudice have been directly linked to higher rates of distress in this community⁵, and many face daily realities such as being denied healthcare, encountering harassment in medical settings, or hiding their identity out of fear⁶. These experiences are causal, not coincidental.

Mental health support for LGBTQIA+ community must begin with that recognition. Understanding identity is the foundation of truly inclusive care for LGBTQIA+ mental health challenges.

Barriers to Accessing Mental Health Support

Even when support is available, reaching for it is not always straightforward. For many, the mere act of seeking help can feel unsafe. Fear of judgement, or memories of previous negative experiences, can discourage individuals from engaging with professionals⁶ – even when the need is urgent.

This fear is not unfounded. Those within the LGBTQIA+ community frequently report experiences of discrimination within healthcare settings – including a lack of cultural competence, humiliation, or even being turned away entirely⁶. One study found that 60% of LGBTQIA+ youth had wanted mental health treatment in the past year but were unable to access it^6-7. Barriers to LGBTQIA+ mental health care include not only access but trust, especially when cultural understanding is lacking.

Training is essential, yet many practitioners still lack the skills and sensitivity needed to support this community⁸. Research highlights that limited training and unconscious bias reduce the likelihood of those in the LGBTQIA+ community from accessing services, or having their needs adequately met⁹. Addressing this must happen both systemically and individually – in therapy rooms, organisations, and educational settings⁹.

And for those with intersecting identities – such as when ethnicity, disability or high-profile family dynamics come into play – additional complexities arise. Whether it’s the pressure to maintain a ‘social silence’ in public roles, or navigating unconscious or cultural bias at home, identity is seldom experienced in isolation¹⁰.

Delivering inclusive therapy for LGBTQIA+ individuals must start by recognising these nuances, and creating spaces where safety, sensitivity and understanding are built-in from the beginning.

Invisible Challenges – Silence, Masking, and Managing Identity

For many in the LGBTQIA+ community, stigma can appear in subtly corrosive ways – prompting a quiet, continuous effort to hide who they are. This practice, called ‘masking’, involves concealing one’s identity as a form of self-protection¹¹). But while it may feel like a necessary shield, it often comes at a deep emotional cost.

Research has shown that masking can trigger stress responses and lead to psychological exhaustion¹². The mental effort of hiding a ‘concealable stigma’ has been described as living in a “private hell”¹¹). These impacts are lived daily by those identifying to be within the LGBTQIA+ community in environments that still reward conformity and discourage openness¹³.

This is especially acute in high-pressure corporate or public roles, where visibility can be seen as a risk rather than a right^14-15. As one paper observed, identity integration is not always a guaranteed outcome – even for those ready to accept themselves¹⁵.

Chronic self-editing impacts confidence, relationships, and emotional wellbeing. These concepts can make identity and mental health deeply intertwined. To address mental health stigma LGBTQIA+ communities face, we must acknowledge the unseen burdens carried by those who feel they cannot be fully themselves.

Beyond Visibility: A Commitment to Truly Inclusive Mental Health Treatment

Pride is powerful and visibility matters, but tokenism can do more harm than good. For LGBTQIA+ individuals, authentic inclusive care isn’t about one-size-fits-all messaging. It’s about the consistent delivery of safe, respectful, and personalised mental health services that honour their lived experiences.

True year-round LGBTQIA+ mental health support requires systems that listen always. Support must reflect who someone truly is, not who a service assumes them to be.

At Orchestrate Health, our care is designed around the individual. That means dignity-first, tailored treatment that adapts to each person … never the other way around.

For those in the LGBTQIA+ community, meaningful support isn’t seasonal. It must be safe, visible, and deeply human every day of the year.

That’s why LGBTQIA+ inclusive care is about presence, understanding, and action. As clinicians, families, and communities, we must keep listening, keep learning, and keep evolving how we offer mental health support for those in the LGBTQIA+ community.

If you’d like to learn more about how Orchestrate Health champions truly inclusive, person-centred care, explore our services or get in touch.