Mental Health

On the mental health of transgender children...Science!

More than enough people on the right think that transgender people transitioning is a sign of a mental disorder.

Example:

Dear Connie. I cannot speak professionally but can only repeat what professionals say about what you are going through. I believe it is called Gender Dysphoria, I hope I got the spelling right, and am saddened by the fact that North Carolina doesn’t provide the help you need to readjust from the mental disorder you suffer with. It appears that allowing you to use a bathroom, locker room or shower of your choice only reinforces the disorder not helps to correct it. As compassionate legislator I seek to help people who are suffering. If you are willing I can investigate promoting legislation to help those who suffer from this disorder and with your help can work to alleviate the pain and suffering caused by this disorder. I’m willing to help if you are willing to be helped and help others.

--NC Rep. Mark Brody, cosponsor of HB 2

Of course, Brody has no science supporting his view.

On the mental illness thing

Right-wing Jewish pundit Ben Shapiro spoke to Orthodox students at Yeshiva Monday.

Transgender people are unfortunately suffering from a significant mental illness that is deeply harmful and it’s not a solution to pretend that transgender people are the sex that they think they are in their head. Biology is biology; men can’t magically become women and women can’t magically become men.

Is there any help for us?

I really hate to make this kind of post, but I'm at my wits end and I don't really know what else to do. I really need to find a new therapist, but I don't know what my insurance is going to do next year and I'd hate to try to find one now and maybe get one appointment only to have to find a different one if my insurance changes.

Classifying difference

The Lancet Psychiatry has released results of what is being called the first field study on the topic of transgender mental health: Removing transgender identity from the classification of mental disorders: a Mexican field study for ICD-11

The conceptualisation of transgender identity as a mental disorder has contributed to precarious legal status, human rights violations, and barriers to appropriate health care among transgender people. The proposed reconceptualisation of categories related to transgender identity in WHO's forthcoming International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11 removes categories related to transgender identity from the classification of mental disorders, in part based on the idea that these conditions do not satisfy the definitional requirements of mental disorders. We aimed to determine whether distress and impairment, considered essential characteristics of mental disorders, could be explained by experiences of social rejection and violence rather than being inherent features of transgender identity, and to examine the applicability of other elements of the proposed ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines.

JAMA on mental health of trans women

The Journal of the American Medical Association published a new study on Monday: Psychiatric Diagnoses and Comorbidities in a Diverse, Multicity Cohort of Young Transgender Women

I. e.-- Are transgender women just inherently nuts or we get help to be that way?

Objective: To report the prevalence of mental health, substance dependence, and comorbid psychiatric disorders assessed via clinical diagnostic interview in a high-risk community-recruited sample of young transgender women.

Results: Of the 298 transgender women, 41.5% of participants had 1 or more mental health or substance dependence diagnoses; 1 in 5 (20.1%) had 2 or more comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. Prevalence of specific disorders was as follows: lifetime and current major depressive episode, 35.4% and 14.7%, respectively; suicidality, 20.2%; generalized anxiety disorder, 7.9%; posttraumatic stress disorder, 9.8%; alcohol dependence, 11.2%; and nonalcohol psychoactive substance use dependence, 15.2%.

The positive mental health of trans children supported in their identities

A new study shows that trans Kids supported by their families are not destined to have mental health problems.

Studies of mental health among transgender people in the United States have been consistently grim, showing higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide.

But almost nothing is known about the mental health of a new and growing generation of transgender Americans — prepubescent children who are living openly as transgender with the support of their families. How do those children fare in an environment of openness and family support? When their gender identity is affirmed, are they happy?

Pages