Nutrition For Mental Health

MoodMattersDietetics.com

MoodMatters Dietetics

Bringing you the latest information and the happenings in Nutritional Psychiatry

Hi Reader!

Mental Health Awareness is over now, and we jumped right into Pride Month!

Did you know that 40% of people who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual report struggling with mental illness?

Research suggests that LGBTQ+ individuals face health disparities linked to societal stigma, discrimination, and denial of their civil and human rights. Discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons has been associated with high rates of psychiatric disorders, eating disorders, poor body image, substance abuse, and suicide.
Personal, family, and social acceptance of sexual orientation and gender identity affect the mental health and personal safety of LGBT individuals.
This problem is furthered when the individual in question is also a member of another marginalized group, such as BIPOC and disabled individuals.

Because of this, I wanted to give a few resources that are specific to the care of this potentially vulnerable population.

To Learn the Foundations of Affirming Care

The National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center has a lot of resources. This page alone has several webinars and publications on transgender healthcare needs. And that's just the first page of 11!

And there are quite a few learning modules geared towards improving sensitive communications, implicit bias, health inequities, and more. Of particular interest is one titled "Behavioral Health Care for LGBTQIA+ People."

Most of these aren't geared towards dietitians or nutrition care but can help you become a better healthcare provider in other ways.

The Human Rights Campaign has resources on advocacy and other measures of support. Their quarterly magazine is fantastic, too.

The Trevor Project offers Ally Training.

Webinars

BHNDPG of the Academy held a webinar on Gender Affirming Nutrition Care a couple of years ago. The presenter did an excellent job.
Also from AND are recorded FNCE sessions on Gender Affirming Nutrition in Sports and Providing Better Nutrition Care for the LGBTQ+ Community. Pricing varies depending on membership status.
- They also have a recording of a DEI symposium available. This one is largely geared towards educators.
The Eating Recovery Center has quite a few resources on the topic. The link will take you to their library, but you'll have to log in or create an account to see them. I recommend using the search terms gender, pride, and lgbtq to find lots of resources on mental health care for this population. I actually recommend that you don't limit yourself to webinars that are specifically for dietitians. You'll pick up on a lot of important language and information by listening to therapists talk about these topics. These are all free.

If you'd rather read the research, you can start here:

Podcasts

The following links lead to specific episodes of these podcasts that tackle nutrition care for the LGBTQIA+ community.

So why is all of this important? As mentioned above, rates of mental illness and suicidality are higher in the LGBTQ+ community. The biggest reasons for this are stigma, anti-LGBTQ biased care, fear of being disowned, and outright bullying, harassment, and violence against the community.

According to The Trevor Project, one accepting adult reduces the risk of suicide by 40% among LGBTQ+ youth.

Learning to provide LGBTQ+ informed and friendly nutrition care can literally be life-saving.

Until next week,

Jennifer Hanes MS, RDN, LD

P.S. Reply to this email to let me know what you think of this "round-up" style email for resources!

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