Many LGBT youth struggle with depression. The number of LGBT community members reaching out for theraputic help has increased, and, as a result, a wider audience for LGBT depression and social support research has come forth.
With the influx of LGBT patients, it is important for therapists to have both a general depression/social support knowledge base and a clear understanding of what does and does not help LGBT individuals based off their specific situations. That is best done through reading current synthesized research and teasing out community variation in depression and social support.
Up to this point, much research has been conducted considering the LGBT spectrum as a whole, but few bring data together in one place to give an organized view of the multitude of experiences in each branch of the community. It is important to distinguish each branch as its own entity to better focus on the specific needs of each group, and the effectiveness of social support type and system on depression.
The negative effects of depression can be counteracted with high levels of social support. When considering the effectiveness of social support types, sexual-specific social support is best at preventing depression because it aids in coping with sexual orientation related stressors. Each support system has its own merit and varied ability to benefit depression prevention, but a combination of primary support from family and secondary support from LGBT peers is the most effective at preventing depression in all regards. Within the community there is depression variation that suggests social support is impacted by sexual orientation acceptance. Those who identify as gay are the most supported sexual orientation, second most supported is those who identify as lesbian, third is those who identify as bisexual, and last is those who identify as transgender.