Guest blog: Mark Sladen, Rain Within the Rainbow
Here at the University of Edinburgh we have several projects that aim to increase our understanding of people’s experiences of suicidal feelings. Discovering Liveability is one such project, but I’m working on another, which is entitled Rain Within the Rainbow. Our project is looking specifically at the experiences of LGBTQ+ people – the community that I’m part of – and the kind of help and support that people like me might need if we’re experiencing suicidal distress.
We think this work is super-important. It’s already widely known that LGBTQ+ people have worse mental health – and higher rates of suicidal feelings and attempts – than the general population (Marchi et al., 2022). This knowledge is reflected in the suicide prevention policies of the four UK nations, which call for suicide prevention that targets LGBTQ+ people. But exactly what such targeted help might be is often left very vague – so the aim for this piece of research is to make recommendations for what suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ people could and should look like.
Rain Within the Rainbow is in several phases, and we’ve already completed one – in which we interviewed a range of the support workers that LGBTQ+ people can encounter if we experience suicidal feelings. These included social workers, A&E doctors, helpline workers – and their testimony has helped us understand the kind of support that’s currently out there. The next wave of interviews that will tap into ‘lived experience’ – we are appealing to LGBTQ+ people who have personal experience of suicidal thoughts, feelings or a suicide attempt to share these experiences with us.
To get involved people need to be LGBTQ+ , living in the UK, and aged 13 and over and have experiences of suicidal distress (whether that be recent or in your past). There are three ways to get involved:
- You can share your story via our confidential digital Story Box – where you can write, audio record or upload images that represent your experiences of suicidal distress and suicide prevention.
- If you would prefer to share your story in your own time and space you can also share your story in writing in our Story Book – and send it to us either by email or in the post.
- Finally, people can have a confidential, one-to-one interview with one of the researchers – which will either be myself or Dr Hazel Marzetti (who leads this project).
The Rain Within the Rainbow aims to reflect the experiences of people from across the LGBTQ+ community, whether they’re lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex – or identify their sexuality or gender identity in a different way. Among these communities, we especially want to hear from people of all ages and races, able-bodied and disabled, and including migrants and asylum seekers too. We take our responsibility seriously, so as well as telling people how they can take part, our website also includes some questions to help people reflect on whether participation would feel right for them. For more information see here.
Even if you’re not LGBTQ+ yourself, you could still help spread the word about this research. Individuals and organisations can do this in several ways – by sharing information on social media or in newsletters, by displaying leaflets, or simply by telling friends, family and colleagues. If you think you could help, or have any other questions, please do send us an email. If you’d like to keep in touch, you can sign up for our mailing list and we will keep you informed about future developments in Rain Within the Rainbow.
Dr Mark Sladen is the Research Fellow for Rain Within the Rainbow. Previously he has worked as a researcher for several Third Sector organisations, including Opening Doors, Tonic Housing and Centre for Mental Health.
If you find any of the issues mentioned in this article distressing, we encourage you to reach out to the Samaritans, the national suicide charity – you can find their website here, or call 116 123 if you want to talk to someone. Information about other helplines, including some that are specially for LGBTQ+ people, can be found here.
