Er nobody is saying shut the down are they? I certainly am not.
The Putney Pusher has been arrested……9 years on!
Are you in your forever house?
Starmer’s plan to ban under 16’s from social media
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Health
Transgender people who start hormones as teenagers rather than adults 'have better mental health’
(493 Posts)Transgender people who start their hormones as teenagers have “far better” mental health than if they wait until adulthood, new research says.
Experts have found that transgender people who begin hormone treatment in adolescence had fewer suicidal thoughts, were less likely to experience major mental health disorders and had fewer problems with substance abuse than those who started hormones later in life.
The study, which was led by the Stanford University School of Medicine, gathered data from the largest-ever survey of US transgender adults where 27,715 people responded in 2015.
Researchers found that, as well as fewer mental health concerns when taking the drugs as teenagers, those who took the drugs at any age had better mental health than those who wanted them but had never received them.
Of the people surveyed, 21,598 reported they had received the hormones they wanted. Of these people, 119 began hormones at age 14 or 15; 362 at age 16 and 17 and 12,157 following their 18th birthday.
Some 8,860 people surveyed said they wanted but never received hormone therapy and acted as the control group for the study.
Odds of severe psychological distress were reduced by 222 per cent, 153 per cent and 81 per cent for those who began hormones in early adolescence, late adolescence and adulthood, respectively.
Odds of feeling suicidal in the previous year were 135 per cent lower in those who began hormones in early adolescence, 62 per cent lower in those who began in late adolescence and 21 per cent lower in those who began as adults, compared with the control group.
Dr Jack Turban, lead author on the study and expert in paediatric and adolescent psychiatry at Stanford Medicine, said: “This study is particularly relevant now because many state legislatures are introducing bills that would outlaw this kind of care for transgender youth.
“We are adding to the evidence base that shows why gender-affirming care is beneficial from a mental health perspective.”
In the UK, hormone drugs can only be given to people from the age of 16 who have been on puberty blockers for at least 12 months.
Last September, the UK Court of Appeal overturned a judgment that children under the age of 16 considering gender reassignment were unlikely to be mature enough to give informed consent to be prescribed puberty-blocking drugs.
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/transgender-hormones-teenager-mental-health-b1991724.html
I'm more interested in the flesh and blood in front of me, than the paperwork.
gagajo if you are involved in the education and pastoral care of young people surely you have a duty of care to inform yourself of the ‘paperwork’ (I assume you mean research papers) that might be relevant to their issues?
They ‘consented’ to the treatment before the legal age of consent, which puts the responsibility onto the adults making the decisions for them
doodledog I agree, the issue is whether a young person can give valid & informed consent to treatment. This applies to any medical procedure.
As I said, we need more experts.
It is easy to dismiss the support of the trans movement as populist. Would you call feminism, gay lib (old fashioned term, sorry!), BLM populist? The fact is that there are openly/covertly young trans people out there and even after they've come out, it takes 5 years for them to get to see someone.
They need sympathy. They do not need to be shut down until they can access the professionals.
Galaxy
If the qualified individuals are actually saying hold on there are serious concerns with regard to what we are doing here then it might be useful to listen to them.
Yes, Galaxy. The populist 'who needs experts' way of thinking is worrying on so many levels.
As many as 1 in 4 trans individuals have attempted suicide and between 80 & 90% of trans individuals admit to have thought about suicide.
On what figures are these statistics based? Without a register of 'trans individuals' (which I am not advocating), how is it possible to know when a figure of 80% has been reached? 80% of how many? Ditto the claim of '1 in 4'.
If the qualified individuals are actually saying hold on there are serious concerns with regard to what we are doing here then it might be useful to listen to them.
Yes which is why we should be very careful when we talk about suicide in relation to a particular group particularly as my understanding is there are concerns about the study which the statistics are based on.
Galaxy
And no one said not to listen to them
I find the way suicide is used in this discussion really worrying, and really damaging to young people and as far as I can see not within the advice provided by organisations such as the Samaritans.
Suicide ideation is very prevalent among trans teens. Understandably so. Our society is so determined to make gender a totally binary, uncrossable divide, that to feel other than the one assigned to you at birth is a huge, seemingly insurmountable barrier. As many as 1 in 4 trans individuals have attempted suicide and between 80 & 90% of trans individuals admit to have thought about suicide.
Anyone working with young people has a duty of care. And that means being sensitive to any suggestion of trauma/mental health issues. If only qualified individuals are suitable for support, that 5+ year wait may well be too late for many of them.
The answer, of course, is to make more qualified support available. But we are currently going in the opposite direction to that.
Interestingly last May Sweden did what is a U-turn and stopped prescribing puberty blocking and cross-sex hormones for minors under 18. Professor Gillberg and others from the University of Gothenburg said “gender reassignment of children is a big experiment.” You might like to look at genderreport.ca the-Swedish-u-turn-on-gender-transitioning. It gives a full and detailed background and is food for thought. Transitioning is not a simple process. I clicked the link to segm.org of May 5 2021 - it can cause medical harm with uncertain benefits.
Science needs to do a lot more research.
2015 is actually a long time ago in terms of for example the unexplained increase with regard to female to male transition, the later research from the UK and Sweden is saying the risk/benefit ratio is unclear. I want the best care for children with gender dysphoria, I think its unclear as to what that may be. I am not interested in being right I am interested in the best care.
Also I have just checked and the latest research (2020) from Sweden raised concerns of lack of evidence of benefits of medical treatments and consequently they have stopped hormone treatments for minors unless under very specific circumstances.
It seems a given that teenagers/children who have positive strong attachments to and bonds with their parents will have less chance of developing m.h problems. Children with significant identity or gender issues more so than others.
This research states children do better if they start medication earlier. There will be multiple reasons why some present for help later in life.
You’re right, of course. It’s a shame though, and a shame that people are put off joining in, as I can’t help thinking that if there were a bigger pool of posters there would be more chance of a decent discussion.
Past history Doodledog these threads always do! Yes, I agree it’s fine right now. I’ll peep tomorrow and see how it’s going.
What gave you the clue that things might turn toxic, Urmstongran? We were all chatting nicely when I went for my shower.
I’m out now. These discussions can turn toxic on a sixpence....
And no one said not to listen to them
I find the way suicide is used in this discussion really worrying, and really damaging to young people and as far as I can see not within the advice provided by organisations such as the Samaritans.
Who is suggesting silencing them ?
Agree Lucca. Listen. Have their feelings (mixed up kids) validated. Not jump in to medicate.
This leaving 'it' to the experts is surely just a polite way of pushing young people who are experiencing something huge back into a closet they've worked very hard to crack the door of.
When it comes to a group of people with a high suicide rate, silencing them for the 5 years it currently takes to see an expert could be a matter of life or death. They are children/young people. They need to be listened to. Not dismissed.
Not engaging with them when they open themselves is the very last thing we should be doing. We wouldn't do it with depression, if they came out as gay, had problems at home, were involved in violent or coercive relationships.
Silencing trans children is only good for the uncomfortable adult, not the vulnerable and frightened young person.
GagaJo
Agree VS. Listening to them, not talking about them.
I’d think it obvious that any teenager/child benefits from being listened to and from having supportive parents and teachers. This does not automatically mean that they will all make decisions which ultimately are right for them (on any issue)
No worries. ?
Cross posted, Urmsongran. Not ignoring your post!
Agreed, VS, which is why it would be easier if everyone they spoke to was qualified to deal with such a complex issue. Obviously that’s impossible (and
could only happen in a very strange world!) which is probably why so many mistakes are made that need traumatic reversal later. I completely agree that everyone should be understanding and supportive of what the children have to say, but don’t believe that anyone other than a psychologist/psychiatrist should encourage transition when they are under age.
There is always a risk that someone inexperienced or unqualified will have their own needs filled by being the confidante of a troubled child. I remember from counselling courses that this is a named ‘thing’ - does anyone know more about it, as it’s on the tip of my tongue but I can’t remember the name?
In any case, children can be very easily influenced, particularly those who are already vulnerable, so IMO, it is better to validate the whole child, take them as they are, and leave any discussion of transitioning to the experts.
Your post just now encapsulates how I feel about these issues Doodledog. I think it’s an absolute mine field to be honest and I swerve discussions for that reason.
I think teenagers like to rebel. To be as different as is possible. To impress their friends, to annoy their parents, to shock their peers. Some take this to extremes. They are immature, mentally, trying on ‘personas’ to see what fits. Some (not all admittedly) make a right pig’s ear of this by being encouraged to transgender (not just being supported) and mess with their lives which is heartbreaking to read about. I don’t know the answer.
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