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Qualitative Health Research
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Suicidality and Self-Harm Among Sexual Minorities in Japan

Anthony S. DiStefano

California State University, Fullerton, California, USA

In this study, I used ethnographic methods to examine suicidality and nonsuicidal self-harm among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons in Japan. Participants (N = 84) indicated that suicidality and self-harm are serious problems among sexual minorities and tend to be driven by (a) a homophobic/transphobic environment and the negative consequences of sexual minorities either disclosing their true selves or remaining hidden and silent within such an environment; (b) various antecedents to poor mental health; and (c) factors not directly related to being a sexual minority, particularly unemployment and debt in the context of a protracted national economic decline in Japan prior to the study period of 2003–2004. Participants also perceived a potentially higher risk for suicidality and self-harm among sexual minority adolescents and persons in their early 20s; those who work in the entertainment, bar, or sex industries; and survivors of violence perpetrated by intimate partners or family members.

Key Words: Asia • bisexuals • ethnography • gays and lesbians • Japan, Japanese • minorities • qualitative methods, general • sexuality • transsexuals • violence • vulnerable populations

This version was published on October 1, 2008

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 18, No. 10, 1429-1441 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732308322605
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