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LGBT+ mental health

Disclaimer:

This publication is based on a Mind UK publication and the original version may be found here: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/a-z-mental-health/

Thank you to Mind UK for sharing their valuable content with us. Content included in Mental Health A-Z is made available free of charge and does not form part of any commercial activity. The adaptation has been done independently by Mind HK and is intended for general information purposes only.

Support for LGBT+ mental health

Mind HK is here for anyone experiencing a mental health problem. But we know that those of us with LGBT+ identities may face extra challenges around getting the right support, and we sometimes have extra needs or concerns.

The tips on this page may help.

Remember that different things work for different people at different times. Only try what you feel comfortable with, and try not to put too much pressure on yourself.

Talking to someone you trust 

It might feel hard to start talking about how you are feeling. But many people find that sharing their experiences can help them feel better. It may be that just having someone listen to you and show they care can help in itself. 

If you aren’t able to open up to someone close to you, reachout to local support, community building and networking groups.  See our useful contacts page for other suggestions (see peer support below) 

Peer support

Making connections with people who have similar or shared experiences can be really helpful. This could be other people with mental health problems, or other LGBT+ people, or both.

There are lots of different ways that you can do this. 

Find a local LGBT+ community building and networking groups and support groups (or see ‘Useful Contacts’)

  • For example, Love Unbounded offers support for bisexual people and the Transgender Resource centre offers community support services  
  • Workplace groups. Some organisations run LGBT+ networks. For example, HK InterBank is a network of LGBT+ groups across the banking and financial industry providing support for its members and the Hong Kong LGBT Medical Society is a group of LGBT+ medical professionals, among other aims they offer support to their peers..  
  • Family Groups. Rainbow Families, a community support group connects LGBT+ parents and families. 

Try an online peer support community

For example, Mind UK’s online peer support community welcomes LGBTIQ+ people. It offers a friendly, non-judgemental space to talk about how you feel.

If you’re using the internet, it’s important to look after your online wellbeing.

Try a mentoring programme

Some organisations offer mentoring schemes for LGBT+ people. Each programme differs, but having a mentor can help increase your confidence. For example, Pink Alliance runs a mentorship programme to help people navigate the workplace as a member of the LGBT+ community.

Self-care

Self-care means things we do for ourselves to help improve our mental and physical health.

Internalised homophobia, biphobia or transphobia might mean you struggle to be kind to yourself. But practising self-care can help boost your self-esteem. We have included some ideas below which may help.

Try joining an LGBT+ specific group

This could be anything from a community project to a hobby group. The important thing is to find an activity you enjoy to help you feel motivated. For example, the Tongzhi Literary Group puts on meetings about authors from sexual minorities and The Harmonics are an LGBT+ choir.  LGBTQ Meetups is another way you can find such groups. 

Try volunteering

Volunteering can make you feel better about yourself and less alone. You could volunteer for an organisation supporting the LGBT+ community. Or you could volunteer for any other cause you feel passionately about.

  • You can volunteer at LGBT+ organisations like Pink Alliance
  • You could volunteer for a sexual health organisation which is supportive of or has close ties to communities of sexual minorities, such as AIDS Concern.  

Think about your diet and sleep 

Improving your diet and the quality of your sleep can help your mental health. You can find more about this from our pages on food and mood and sleep. 

Try to do some physical activity

Exercise can help improve your mood. You can exercise by yourself or you could try joining an LGBT+ sports group. You might like to look up social groups connecting members of the LGBT+ community through sports, fitness, outdoor events.  Our pages on physical activity and mental health have more tips.

“I often get asked why I play for a [LGBT+] team… it provides a safe space to play and also it allows me to meet like-minded people in a space that doesn’t revolve around bars and clubs, which felt at the time to be the only way of meeting gay people.”

Try to avoid recreational drugs and alcohol

You might want to use these to cope with difficult feelings. But heavy use of alcohol or drugs can make existing mental health problems worse. It may also contribute to new ones. You can find more information and support from:

  • the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre 
  • our pages about the mental health effects of recreational drugs.

Look after your sexual health

Sexual health is an important part of your physical and mental health. Poor mental health can contribute to you taking risks with your sexual health. But this can have long-term health consequences. Living with a long-term health condition can also affect your mental health. For example, depression is more common among those of us living with HIV. You can find more information and support from AIDS Concern. 

See our page on self-care for mental health problems to find more ideas.

Asking your doctor for help

Your doctor (GP) is there to help you with your mental health as well as your physical health. They could:

  • make a diagnosis
  • offer you support and treatments, such as self-help resources, talking therapies, and possibly medication (when it is indicated)
  • refer you to a specialist LGBT+ mental health service, if one exists near you.

Find out more about how to talk to your doctor in our pages on seeking help for a mental health problem.

Do I have to tell them I’m LGBT+?

Opening up to a doctor about your personal thoughts and feelings isn’t easy for anyone. Being LGBT+ can make it feel even harder. There are lots of reasons to not want to come out as LGBT+ to your doctor when you talk to them about your mental health. And lots of reasons you might feel anxious about what will happen if you do.

You don’t have to tell your doctor that you’re LGBT+ to get their help. But if you do, they might find it easier to get you the right support.

If you do decide to tell them, you could rehearse what you will say first with someone you trust. 

What if my doctor is unhelpful?

Unfortunately, you might not get the help you need right away. Bad experiences of healthcare staff can be discouraging. But no matter your background, sexuality or identity, you deserve support.

Specialist LGBT+ mental health services

Some therapists focus on providing mental health support to LGBT+ people. When seeking out support, ask the therapist if their practice has a focus on LGBT+ mental health. 

“I needed somewhere where I could be open about being trans and be open about mental health.”

Working with a therapist

Talking therapies involve talking to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. They can help you manage and cope with:

  • difficult life events, such as bad experiences of coming out 
  • relationship problems, such as rejection from family, friends or your community
  • upsetting or traumatic experiences. This could be something recent or something that happened a long time ago
  • difficult emotions, such as guilt, sadness, confusion, anger, low self-esteem and internalised homophobia, biphobia and transphobia 
  • depression, anxiety and other mental health problems
  • living with a long-term physical health problem. 

Please see our Seeking Help in Hong Kong page to see which mental health professional is right for you and where to find help in Hong Kong. 

Your therapist’s identity

Your relationship with your therapist is an important factor in how successful any therapy is for you.

If you would prefer to work with a therapist from the LGBT+ community, it’s best to mention it during your first contact with the service. Unfortunately, not all services will be able to match you with an LGBT+ therapist. One of the LGBTIQ+ services listed in our useful contacts page might be able to help. 

But even if your therapist does not identify as LGBT+ themselves, they may still have experience of helping people with similar problems to you. 

Getting help for suicidal feelings 

If you find you are feeling suicidal you should discuss it with a doctor or your therapist as soon as possible.

If you feel in crisis right now, you can contact one of the crisis support programmes listed on our Find Help Now page. Or you can go to your local hospital’s A&E department.

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What is iACT Service?

Improving Access to Community Therapies (iACT®) is one of the services from Mind HK. Trained Wellbeing Practitioners will offer initial assessment and early intervention for people dealing with mild to moderate symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other emotional difficulties.

 

The service includes 6-8 sessions of low-intensity psychological support, the flexibility of the service allows individuals to receive free and timely support when needed.

If you’re aged between 18 – 65 and are facing some emotional challenges, we would like to invite you to take an online assessment for us to gain a better understanding of your current emotional struggle.

 

If you’re eligible, we’ll get you connected with a Wellbeing Practitioner within two weeks to sort out the next steps.

The service runs for about 3 months and includes 6-8 support sessions, tailored to your needs.

 

We encourage you to attend all sessions and actively practice the tips and exercises provided by your Wellbeing Practitioner.

We take your privacy seriously. Your chats with the Wellbeing Practitioner are confidential.

 

We won’t share any of your info unless you’ve provided consent or if there are risks detected.

This programme isn’t suitable for people facing emergencies, major setbacks, or those diagnosed with serious or complex mental health conditions.

 

If you’re having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, this programme might not meet your needs, so please seek help right away. You can check out Mind HK’s “Find Help Now” page for immediate information and services.

Most of our Wellbeing Practitioners have backgrounds in psychology or counselling and are passionate about mental health. They’ve gone through about 140 hours of intensive training and completed at least 120 hours of supervised clinical practice over 9 months to ensure the quality of service.

 

They’re trained by accredited local experts in the mental health field, including clinical psychologists, counselling psychologists, counsellors, and psychiatrists. Plus, we regularly check how effective our services are. All service outputs and performances are subject to consistent monitoring.

Who is suitable for participating in this programme?

This programme welcomes anyone between the ages of 18 and 65 who may be feeling lost or facing emotional difficulties. Please note that this programme is not suitable for individuals diagnosed with severe or complex mental health conditions.

This programme is not suitable for individuals diagnosed with severe or complex mental health conditions, but suitable for those who experience mild to severe moderate anxiety, mild to moderate depression, or other emotional challenges. If you are currently experiencing a major setback or even having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please visit the “Find Help Now” page on our Mind HK’s website for immediate information and services.

After signing up, our Wellbeing Practitioner will contact you within two weeks to schedule a convenient time for a 45-minute conversation, either via video or phone call, according to your preference. During the conversation, the Wellbeing Practitioner will understand your current situation and help you gain a better understanding of your emotional state based on the questionnaire you filled out during application. Additionally, they will provide recommendations for appropriate community resources based on your needs, helping you take an important first step in taking care of your mental health.

Although the intervention procedure is mostly standardised, Wellbeing Practitioners will work flexibly with clients to address individual presenting problems and unique characteristics.

Our Wellbeing Practitioners are trained to support people who experience mild to moderate mental health difficulties primarily. This programme is not suitable for the situations mentioned above. If you are currently experiencing a major setback or even having thoughts of suicide or self-harm, please visit the “Find Help Now” page on our Mind HK’s website for immediate information and services.

Your conversations with the Wellbeing Practitioner are absolutely confidential. Any information about you will not be shared with anyone without your consent unless you or others are at immediate risk or the Wellbeing Practitioner has reason to believe that you may be in imminent danger.
Supervisors will monitor trainees’ development throughout the placement to ensure that they are meeting the required level of competency to pass the training course at the end of the placement.

Yes, it is necessary to book an appointment in advance by filling out the form. Additionally, you can select one of the five stores yourself. We will allocate clients to different Wellbeing Practitioners based on their chosen location.

Before having the conversation, we will ask you to fill out a basic questionnaire for preliminary screening assessment. This screening process aims to ensure that the training received by the Wellbeing Practitioners is sufficient to meet the needs of the individuals receiving the service. If it is determined after the screening assessment that the service is not suitable for you, Mind HK will provide alternative recommendations to ensure your safety and support.

For adults who are suitable for this service, all Wellbeing Practitioners have received training on how to identify and respond to safety and risk issues. If you have any concerns about the support process, the Wellbeing Practitioners have appropriate measures in place and will develop response plans based on the urgency of the situation. They can also access support from clinical practitioners from Mind HK or participating organisations.

What private training does Mind HK provide?

Mind HK provides 4 themes of mental health training, including: Supporting Self, Supporting Others, Family Wellbeing and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion).

 

Check out the brochure here for more information.

Mind HK provides a wide range of standardised mental health training, which can be tailored to different circumstances. Chat with our team to explore more! 

Our trainers come from a diverse, accredited pool of clinically experienced professionals. Check out our trainers’ biographies here.

Yes, the Mental Health First Aid class of Mind HK is internationally accredited by the MHFA International. The content and certification is delivered by trainers certified from the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong. You can find out our trainers accreditation here.

We are here to support your mental health education journey! Reach out to us and chat with our team.

LGBT+ mental health support

Support for LGBT+ mental health

Mind HK is here for anyone experiencing a mental health problem. But we know that those of us with LGBT+ identities may face extra challenges around getting the right support, and we sometimes have extra needs or concerns.

The tips on this page may help.

Remember that different things work for different people at different times. Only try what you feel comfortable with, and try not to put too much pressure on yourself.

Talking to someone you trust 

It might feel hard to start talking about how you are feeling. But many people find that sharing their experiences can help them feel better. It may be that just having someone listen to you and show they care can help in itself. 

If you aren't able to open up to someone close to you, reachout to local support, community building and networking groups.  See our useful contacts page for other suggestions (see peer support below) 

Peer support

Making connections with people who have similar or shared experiences can be really helpful. This could be other people with mental health problems, or other LGBT+ people, or both.

There are lots of different ways that you can do this. 

Find a local LGBT+ community building and networking groups and support groups (or see ‘Useful Contacts’)

  • For example, Love Unbounded offers support for bisexual people and the Transgender Resource centre offers community support services  
  • Workplace groups. Some organisations run LGBT+ networks. For example, HK InterBank is a network of LGBT+ groups across the banking and financial industry providing support for its members and the Hong Kong LGBT Medical Society is a group of LGBT+ medical professionals, among other aims they offer support to their peers..  
  • Family Groups. Rainbow Families, a community support group connects LGBT+ parents and families. 

Try an online peer support community

For example, Mind UK's online peer support community welcomes LGBTIQ+ people. It offers a friendly, non-judgemental space to talk about how you feel.

If you're using the internet, it's important to look after your online wellbeing.

Try a mentoring programme

Some organisations offer mentoring schemes for LGBT+ people. Each programme differs, but having a mentor can help increase your confidence. For example, Pink Alliance runs a mentorship programme to help people navigate the workplace as a member of the LGBT+ community.

Self-care

Self-care means things we do for ourselves to help improve our mental and physical health.

Internalised homophobia, biphobia or transphobia might mean you struggle to be kind to yourself. But practising self-care can help boost your self-esteem. We have included some ideas below which may help.

Try joining an LGBT+ specific group

This could be anything from a community project to a hobby group. The important thing is to find an activity you enjoy to help you feel motivated. For example, the Tongzhi Literary Group puts on meetings about authors from sexual minorities and The Harmonics are an LGBT+ choir.  LGBTQ Meetups is another way you can find such groups. 

Try volunteering

Volunteering can make you feel better about yourself and less alone. You could volunteer for an organisation supporting the LGBT+ community. Or you could volunteer for any other cause you feel passionately about.

  • You can volunteer at LGBT+ organisations like Pink Alliance
  • You could volunteer for a sexual health organisation which is supportive of or has close ties to communities of sexual minorities, such as AIDS Concern.  

Think about your diet and sleep 

Improving your diet and the quality of your sleep can help your mental health. You can find more about this from our pages on food and mood and sleep. 

Try to do some physical activity

Exercise can help improve your mood. You can exercise by yourself or you could try joining an LGBT+ sports group. You might like to look up social groups connecting members of the LGBT+ community through sports, fitness, outdoor events.  Our pages on physical activity and mental health have more tips.

"I often get asked why I play for a [LGBT+] team... it provides a safe space to play and also it allows me to meet like-minded people in a space that doesn't revolve around bars and clubs, which felt at the time to be the only way of meeting gay people."

Try to avoid recreational drugs and alcohol

You might want to use these to cope with difficult feelings. But heavy use of alcohol or drugs can make existing mental health problems worse. It may also contribute to new ones. You can find more information and support from:

  • the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre 
  • our pages about the mental health effects of recreational drugs.

Look after your sexual health

Sexual health is an important part of your physical and mental health. Poor mental health can contribute to you taking risks with your sexual health. But this can have long-term health consequences. Living with a long-term health condition can also affect your mental health. For example, depression is more common among those of us living with HIV. You can find more information and support from AIDS Concern. 

See our page on self-care for mental health problems to find more ideas.

Asking your doctor for help

Your doctor (GP) is there to help you with your mental health as well as your physical health. They could:

  • make a diagnosis
  • offer you support and treatments, such as self-help resources, talking therapies, and possibly medication (when it is indicated)
  • refer you to a specialist LGBT+ mental health service, if one exists near you.

Find out more about how to talk to your doctor in our pages on seeking help for a mental health problem.

Do I have to tell them I'm LGBT+?

Opening up to a doctor about your personal thoughts and feelings isn't easy for anyone. Being LGBT+ can make it feel even harder. There are lots of reasons to not want to come out as LGBT+ to your doctor when you talk to them about your mental health. And lots of reasons you might feel anxious about what will happen if you do.

You don't have to tell your doctor that you're LGBT+ to get their help. But if you do, they might find it easier to get you the right support.

If you do decide to tell them, you could rehearse what you will say first with someone you trust. 

What if my doctor is unhelpful?

Unfortunately, you might not get the help you need right away. Bad experiences of healthcare staff can be discouraging. But no matter your background, sexuality or identity, you deserve support.

Specialist LGBT+ mental health services

Some therapists focus on providing mental health support to LGBT+ people. When seeking out support, ask the therapist if their practice has a focus on LGBT+ mental health. 

"I needed somewhere where I could be open about being trans and be open about mental health."

Working with a therapist

Talking therapies involve talking to a trained professional about your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. They can help you manage and cope with:

  • difficult life events, such as bad experiences of coming out 
  • relationship problems, such as rejection from family, friends or your community
  • upsetting or traumatic experiences. This could be something recent or something that happened a long time ago
  • difficult emotions, such as guilt, sadness, confusion, anger, low self-esteem and internalised homophobia, biphobia and transphobia 
  • depression, anxiety and other mental health problems
  • living with a long-term physical health problem. 

Please see our Seeking Help in Hong Kong page to see which mental health professional is right for you and where to find help in Hong Kong. 

Your therapist's identity

Your relationship with your therapist is an important factor in how successful any therapy is for you.

If you would prefer to work with a therapist from the LGBT+ community, it's best to mention it during your first contact with the service. Unfortunately, not all services will be able to match you with an LGBT+ therapist. One of the LGBTIQ+ services listed in our useful contacts page might be able to help. 

But even if your therapist does not identify as LGBT+ themselves, they may still have experience of helping people with similar problems to you. 

Getting help for suicidal feelings 

If you find you are feeling suicidal you should discuss it with a doctor or your therapist as soon as possible.

If you feel in crisis right now, you can contact one of the crisis support programmes listed on our Find Help Now page. Or you can go to your local hospital's A&E department.