About This Page
On this page, you will find a documentary and two webinars that provide personal insight into the mental health challenges faced by real LGBTQ+ people, including health and education experts, content creators, and celebrities.
Videos
Spotlight on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health (2021) is a webinar presented by Well Beings, a mental health awareness campaign, and features PBS student reporters and panelists who work with LGBTQ+ youth. Discussions focus on LGBTQ+ youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic; finding support from families, peers, schools, and mental health practitioners; allyship; and resources for LGBTQ+ youth and educators. Personal stories from LGBTQ+ youth are interspersed throughout the webinar so that viewers can learn about their experiences with things like coming out as transgender and creating LGBTQ+ clubs at school.
MLA Citation: "Spotlight on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health." Well Beings, 27 October 2021, https://wellbeings.org/events/wnet/.
This BBC documentary follows Olly Alexander, the lead singer of the British band Years and Years, as he reflects upon his experiences with anxiety and depression as a gay teenager and young man growing up in England. He discusses difficult topics such as self-harm, eating disorders, bullying, substance abuse, and the shame he felt for being gay. The film offers an intimate and honest look at LGBTQ+ youth mental health.
MLA Citation: Cooper, Vicki, director. "Olly Alexander: Growing Up Gay." YouTube, uploaded by Real Stories, 20 Feb. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfrq7y1PqBo.
“Self-Care and Self-Love: The Sowlmate Way” (2021) is a webinar presented by the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to empowering and connecting LGBTQ+ people around the globe through storytelling. Five panelists of various ages and backgrounds join the host to discuss mental health and self-care and to learn about Sowlmate, a self-care app for LGBTQ+ youth. Throughout the webinar, the panelists share what they have had to unlearn and relearn about mental health, as well as their experiences with LGBTQ+ representation and discrimination, accessing mental health care as LGBTQ+ immigrants, and creating safe community spaces for LGBTQ+ youth online. This video is useful for teens who are interested in learning about mental health as it is experienced by LGBTQ+ people and the strategies they have used to cope.
MLA Citation: "Self-Care and Self-Love: The Sowlmate Way." YouTube, uploaded by It Gets Better Project, 26 Jan. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK_TvAOrXXc.