David Ortiz Paredes, Tara Chanady, Kinda Wassef, Rod Knight and Olivier Ferlatte have authored a publication that explores the experiences of accessing mental health care for LGBTQ+ youth who use cannabis.
This is the first scientific publication from Qollab's Cannapix project!
Cannapix is a photovision study of 46 LGBTQ+ people aged 15 to 24, who took photographs related to their cannabis use, mental health and sexual and gender identity. These photographs were then interviewed to better understand the interaction between cannabis use and mental health among LGBTQ+ youth.
What have we learned from this work?
This publication explores the perspectives, needs and motivations of LGBTQ+ youth who use cannabis when accessing mental health services.
First, we learned that LGBTQ+ youth seek mental health services that facilitate introspection to better understand their sexual and gender identity and mental health. Secondly, beyond experts in LGBTQ+ realities, participants were looking for health professionals who were open about their identities. However, they often felt judged by caregivers about their LGBTQ+ identity and cannabis use. Thirdly, participants described experiences of accessing mental health care as uncertain and challenging, which had a further impact on their mental well-being. Fourthly, participants recognized that cannabis use helped to alleviate their mental health problems, but they also emphasized the importance of resilience in meeting the challenges of access.
What are the implications of this work?
This publication contains two take-home messages: (1) LGBTQ+ youth seek holistic mental health care that goes beyond the provision of medication and further supports their introspective processes by encouraging self-reflection in order to develop a better understanding of themselves; (2) Beyond specific LGBTQ+ knowledge, openness, communication and trust between healthcare professionals and LGBTQ+ youth are crucial in countering the feelings of stigma experienced by LGBTQ+ youth who use cannabis.
Together, holistic mental health care, affirmation, openness and a dynamic of trust in mental health services are imperative to relieve LGBTQ+ youth of the burden of relying on their resilience to create their own access to mental health.
We thank the participants for sharing their experiences with us. This study would not have been possible without their generosity, commitment and creativity.
