By Madison Brown | Staff WriterAs I have experienced my own struggle with mental illness over the past few years, I have met a variety of people with mental illnesses. The most common ones are depression and anxiety disorders among members of the LGBTQ community. LGBTQ college students are considered to be extremely high risk for suicide attempts, according to The Trevor Project’s website.With the struggles that occur through coming out, facing discrimination, and having an overall lack of support, it shocks me that the suicide rate isn’t higher.Coming out of the closet as gay was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was so worried about what my family would think that I developed an anxiety disorder. When I finally did come out, my family assured me that they still loved me.My experience with coming out may have ended positively, but not everyone that comes out is so lucky. When deciding to come out, LGBTQ college students have to weigh significant risks. Will their families disown them? How will they support themselves if that happens?LGBTQ students must face the consequences of being out, whether that is through loss of family support or discrimination from professors and fellow students.The consequences can lead to LGBTQ students developing mental illnesses that, when left untreated, can lead to suicide attempts.Discrimination against LGBTQ students is another factor in the rising number of college student suicides. Augusta University is no stranger to such discrimination. Last year, posters promoting anti-LGBTQ ideas and white supremacy were plastered around campus. This is another reason for the rising suicide rates.When members of the LGBTQ community see signs that call them ‘disgusting’ and ‘immoral’ because of who they love, it makes the campus unsafe and lowers their sense of self-worth.Students may also face discrimination from students and faculty members. This could be from people using slurs against those students or protesting at Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) meetings. Faculty members can discriminate against them by using their power and influence to make classes harder for those students.This type of discrimination can cause students to not attend classes because they no longer feel welcome.I believe that mental illness is so prevalent in LGBTQ college students because of the lack of support that they receive while in college.College is stressful and terrifying all on its own, but when you add in the stress from facing backlash because of your sexual orientation or gender identity, the stress doubles.It’s been proven that LGBTQ college students are almost five times as likely to commit suicide than other students are, so what I want to know is: Why isn’t more being done to prevent this from happening?Why are we letting LGBTQ students become just another statistic?Contact Madison Brown at madbrown@augusta.edu.A version was published on October 26, 2017, in Volume 60, Issue 1, of The Bell Ringer newspaper.