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Correspondence |
University of Minnesota Medical School, 809 Spring St NE #105, Minneapolis, MN 55413-2347, USA.
Correspondence: E-mail: math5577{at}umn.edu
King et al (2003) have published a valuable contribution to the literature regarding the mental health of lesbians and gay men. However, they erred in asserting that, ‘No study has examined whether gay and lesbian people have elevated rates of completed suicide....’ (p. 557). This is important because studies of sexual orientation and attempted v. completed suicide have yielded different results. Nearly all studies of sexual orientation and attempted suicide have found that gay men and lesbians have higher rates of self-harm than heterosexuals. Conversely, all studies of sexual orientation and completed suicide have concluded that gay men and lesbians do not die by suicide at a higher rate than heterosexuals.
Spencer (1959) followed 100
Oxford undergraduates referred by their general practitioners. Relative to 35%
of controls (n=100), a significantly greater proportion of patients
(51%) had homosexual behaviour, fantasies or desires. ‘No patient was
lost by suicide’ but 9 of 10 who attempted suicide were
‘persistently homosexual’ (pp. 402–403). Cohen
(1961) found only one same-sex
couple (1.7%) among 58 completed suicide pacts. O’Hara
(1963) found only 4% lesbians
and gay men in a 1-year incidence study of double suicides in Japan. Rich
et al (1986) reported
that 13 (11%) of 119 males aged 21–42 who died by suicide in Los Angeles
had disclosed a homosexual identity prior to death. In New York City, Shaffer
et al (1995) found
that in 3 (2.5%) of 120 completed youth (aged 
20 years) suicide cases the
individual was gay. However, they found no gay or lesbian young people among
147 living controls matched for age, gender and ethnicity.
Thus, contrary to King et al’s assertion, at least five peer-reviewed studies of sexual orientation and completed suicide have been published.
REFERENCES
Cohen, J. (1961) A study of suicide pacts. Medico-Legal Journal, 29, 144 –151.
King, M., McKeown, E., Warner, J., et al
(2003) Mental health and quality of life of gay men and
lesbians in England and Wales. Controlled, cross-sectional study.
British Journal of Psychiatry,
183, 552
–558.
O’Hara, K. (1963) Characteristics of
suicides in Japan, especially of parent–child double suicide.
American Journal of Psychiatry,
120, 382
–385.
Rich, C. L., Fowler, R. C., Young, D., et al (1986) San Diego suicide study: comparison of gay to straight males. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 16, 448 –457.[Medline]
Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Hicks, R. H., et al (1995) Sexual orientation in adolescents who commit suicide. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 25 (suppl.), 64 –71.
Spencer, S. J. G. (1959) Homosexuality among Oxford undergraduates. Journal of Mental Science, 105, 393 –405.
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