«Unser Lebensstil ist von der Gesellschaft nicht vorgesehen, was immer die behaupten mag, und was immer an Bildern vermittelt wird, zum Beispiel von der Werbung. Die Erfahrung ist oft die einer abgrundtiefen Einsamkeit, und für die gibt es keine Gebrauchsanweisung. Das einzige was zählt, ist die persönliche Erfahrung, und der Wunsch und die Fähigkeit, die Flamme des Lebens in sich selbst zu finden. Es gibt irgendwie keine Landkarte, auf die ein Schwuler seinen Lebensweg projizieren kann. »
Charles
Mental Health and Suicide Surveys
The quotes in the image are responses to open questions asked of participants in 2007 and 2011 on depression. Since the participation in the gay healthsurvey was on an anonymous basis, the first names used are fictitious.
Following the worrying findings of the baseline survey on mental health among gay and bisexual men, we carried out two further surveys in 2007 and 2011 based on mental health and suicide.
Vignettes describing a depressed person helped assess attitudes and knowledge regarding mental health as well as beliefs surrounding treatment. These questionnaires also included open-ended questions for participants who had suffered from depression or attempted suicide in order to understand what they believed the reasons were for their illness or their action and what they did on their own behalf afterwards. Some of these responses appear as quotes on the site.
The same sampling method was used for these surveys as for the baseline survey.
These two further research actions were also used as pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys to assess the impact of the “Blues Out” project in the gay community.
Number of participants in all 3 gay health project surveys
| 2002 | 2007 | 2011 | |
| No. of participants | 571 | 276 | 486 |
| Response rate | 68% | 44% | 38% |
| % of responses on Internet dating sites | 7% | 19% | 21% |
| % of gay men | 87% | 92% | 89% |
| % of participants based in Geneva | 50% | 56% | 45% |
| % of under 25 years of age | 17% | 21% | 14% |