Lesbians' mental health concerns

The literature on lesbians' mental health issues offers mostly research on selected issues and few comprehensive studies. Using a pretested qualitative and quantitative instrument, I elicited 503 lesbian women's responses to questions on issues known to affect lesbians' mental health. The participants were more likely to seek professional assistance for depression when depression and relationship issues were identified as occurring simultaneously. Content analysis of the women's responses revealed four categories of changes desired in the mental health care system.