Bisexual people are 80 percent more likely to feel anxiety than the average person
Bisexual people are nearly 80 percent more likely to report feeling anxious than the average person, new research has shown.
Gay, lesbian and bisexual people all feel overwhelmingly less worthwhile and satisfied with their lives than straight people.
The statistics, released by the Office of National Statistics in honour of Pride, show that LGB people also report feeling less happy and more anxious than their straight British counterparts.
This is particularly true of bisexual people, who were also 40 percent more likely to describe themselves as unhappy.
Gay and lesbian people also responded in a troubling fashion, with findings showing that this segment of the population was 50 percent more likely to report feeling anxiety.
Gay and lesbian respondents were also shown to be 25 percent more likely to describe themselves as being unhappy than the average person.
The data collected from heterosexual people shows nothing significantly different from the average person in terms of quality of life.
In contrast, lesbians, gay men and bisexual people described themselves as having a below-average quality of life in every single category.
Around one-third of bisexual people reported high levels of anxiety.
The research marks the first time the ONS has measured personal wellbeing by sexual identity. The study’s preliminary findings were revealed in May.
Upon its release today, the ONS said that “by publishing this analysis as Pride takes place around the world, we mark the celebration of equality and diversity by contributing to the debate around societal inequalities in regards to sexual identity.”
300,000 people over the age of 16 between January 2013 and December 2015 were surveyed to find the results.
In attempting to explain the findings, the ONS pointed to research carried out by Stonewall which found that one in five LGB employees experienced verbal bullying.
The same report found that a quarter of LGB people were not open to colleagues about their sexual orientation.
The body also referenced findings by The National Institute of Economic and Social Research which showed that LGB people were more likely to suffer with mental health problems.
And, as the ONS pointed out, 12 percent of all hate crimes in England and Wales from 2015-16 were related to sexual orientation, according to Home Office figures.
More than 7,000 sexual orientation hate crimes were recorded in total.
In addition to this, only a quarter of people who are victims of such hate crimes actually report the incidents, according to Galop’s 2016 Hate Crime Report.
Crime Survey estimates suggest that from 2012 to 2015 there were, on average, 29,000 sexual orientation-related hate crimes each year.
