Gay men 8 times as likely to try suicide

GAY men in Scotland are nearly eight times more likely to have attempted suicide in the past year and four times more likely to have taken drugs than heterosexual men, a survey has suggested.

A study on gay and bisexual men’s health by Stonewall Scotland has found 3 per cent of gay men and 7 per cent of bisexual men have tried to take their own life in the past year, compared with 0.4 per cent of the general population.

It also found 44 per cent had taken drugs, compared with 11 per cent of the general population, with gay men more than twice as likely to take cannabis (21 per cent) and cocaine (10 per cent), as well as amphetamines and tranquillisers (4 per cent).

Stonewall Scotland surveyed 633 gay and bisexual men.