‘You Get the Feeling That They Don’t Really Get it’: LGBTQ+ Young People's Experiences with Mental Health Services

This paper explores the experiences of young LGBTQ+ people with mental health services in Finland. Drawing on collaboratively created focus group data, we apply minority stress theory and an intersectional lens to shed light on how LGBTQ+ young people's subjective and collective experiences with mental health services are shaped by various interlocking systems of oppression, including cisheteronormativity, ableism and racism. We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis, identifying four themes: expectations, experiences, outcomes and demands. Together, these themes illustrate how shortcomings in mental health services feed into minority stress, often resulting in inadequate mental healthcare for LGBTQ+ young people. However, our analysis also illuminates the agentic stance that participants adopted in demanding improvements to existing mental health provision. We conclude by emphasising the importance of developing intersectional sensitivity and increased awareness of the specific needs of sexual and gender minority young people, and the challenges they face when seeking help for mental distress.