Felix Lane, Trans Advocacy Manager at Stonewall, discusses the insights COSMO offers on the wellbeing of non-binary young people.
The COSMO study offers some valuable insights into the mental health of young people from different parts of the LGBTQ+ community. These insights suggest more support is needed, particularly for non-binary young people. With many conversations currently happening about how best to support trans and gender diverse young people, particularly in an educational context, it is important to consider these findings and implement their recommendations.
Participants in the second wave of COSMO were 17 to 18-years-old. The mental health of non-binary young people in this cohort is strikingly poor in comparison to their peers. Non-binary is a term that covers a diverse range of gender identities that do not necessarily fit into the male/female binary. Some non-binary people also describe themselves as trans, which means that their gender does not completely match with the sex they were assigned at birth.
It is concerning that non-binary+ young people were the most likely to say they have self-harmed (57%). This is in comparison with 20% of females and 9% of males in the study. The COVID-19 pandemic also had a substantial impact on many young people. For instance, the LGBT Foundation experienced a 25% increase in calls asking for support with suicidal thoughts during the 2020 lockdowns. Furthermore, Just Like Us’ 2021 Growing Up LGBT+ report found that LGBT+ young people were 3 times more likely to self harm, and that 68% of LGBT+ young people said their mental health had ‘got worse’ since the pandemic, compared to 49% of their non-LGBT+ peers.
