October 04, 2019

Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study

October 04, 2019/ Laura Jacobs

Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study

Published in: American Journal of Psychiatry. October 4, 2019. Authors: Richard Bränström, Ph.D., John E Pachankis, Ph.D.

Yet another study documenting what we already know: transgender people who receive affirming care show dramatic improvement, especially when compared to those in disaffirming environments.

Find more research about affirmative care for trans and non-binary individuals at our website:

www.gdaworkinggroup.com

And follow us on Facebook for updates:

@gdaffirmative

“Compared with the general population, individuals with a gender incongruence diagnosis were about six times as likely to have had a mood and anxiety disorder health care visit, more than three times as likely to have received prescriptions for antidepressants and anxiolytics, and more than six times as likely to have been hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Years since initiating hormone treatment was not significantly related to likelihood of mental health treatment (adjusted odds ratio=1.01, 95% CI=0.98, 1.03). However, increased time since last gender-affirming surgery was associated with reduced mental health treatment (adjusted odds ratio=0.92, 95% CI=0.87, 0.98).”

https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19010080

Gender Dysphoria Affirmative Working Group

We are medical and mental health professionals, academics, researchers, activists, and allies, some trans and others cis, all with expertise in gender and sexuality and troubled by the notion of “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria.” Affirmative approaches have been demonstrated to improve quality of life, relationship satisfaction, self-esteem and self-confidence, and clearly show reductions in anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, and substance use. As such, “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria” runs counter to evidence based treatment and should be officially repudiated by all major medical and mental health associations, as well as all organizations devoted to the wellbeing of transgender individuals and community.