Substance Use, Mental Health, and Service Access among Bisexual Adults in Australia

ABSTRACT

Bisexuals remain largely invisible in substance use and mental health research in Australia. This may be due to the contested nature of ‘bisexuality,’ where some position it as an undecided sexuality, as well as the aggregation of bisexuals with lesbian and gay people in most studies. This study aimed to examine whether bisexuality was associated with higher levels of substance use and mental health problems. An online survey was conducted with 366 participants who were age 18 to 40 years, lived in Australia, and identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) or heterosexual. Compared to heterosexual participants, bisexuals reported using a greater number of different drugs in the previous 12 months and were more likely to have used methamphetamines and opioids. They were also more likely have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and to report current psychological distress. Compared to lesbian/gay participants, bisexuals were more likely to have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and to have sought assistance for problems related to mental health and substance use. Bisexuals who identified as neither male nor female (‘nonbinary’) reported some of the highest levels of substance use and mental health problems. These findings provide support for the notion that higher levels of substance use and mental health concerns among LGB people compared to heterosexual people may be largely due to the high levels reported among bisexual people.

KEYWORDS:

• bisexuality
• substance use
• mental health
• nonbinary
• treatment

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Brendan Loi

Brendan Loi is a 5th-year medical student at UNSW Sydney who has an interest in public health, particularly with LGBTQ health. His aspires to be a general practitioner in the future.

Toby Lea

Toby Lea, PhD, is a research fellow at the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW Sydney. His research is focused primarily on alcohol and other drug use and blood-borne virus prevention among gay and bisexual men.

John Howard

John Howard, PhD, is a conjoint senior lecturer at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney. He is a clinical psychologist, academic and researcher with interests in substance use, mental health and sexuality.