A team of researchers from the Columbia University has analyzed a survey of 31,852 Oregon based teens on the parameters of sexual orientation, drinking habits, and whether they had attempted the suicide or not.

It was observed that the lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are 22% more likely to commit suicide as compared to other heterosexual youngsters of the same age. This percentage can be reduced significantly as only 20.4% homosexual teens living in a positive environment had attempted to suicide, at least ones in their life, on the other hand, 25.5% students had tried to commit suicide in a negative environment.

In a non feasible environment, the youngsters tend to commit the suicide because of many reasons such as depression, desire for alcohol intake or any physical abuse by an adult. “The social environment appears to confer risk for suicide attempts over and above individual-level risk factors. These results have important implications for the development of policies and interventions to reduce sexual orientation–related disparities in suicide attempts”, concluded the researchers.

There is an urgent need to establish communities and schools that can offer help and support to this particular slice of youth.