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Transgender people who start hormones as teenagers rather than adults 'have better mental health’

(493 Posts)
GagaJo Wed 12-Jan-22 19:49:33

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

Rosie51 Fri 14-Jan-22 00:01:17

I took an age to type my one finger typing post. Mollygo the content of your post angers me, drives me to despair, and saddens me beyond belief. I do wonder if all the adherents and proclaimers will own their part when the walls come tumbling down. I can almost hear the claims of "I was just being 'kind'" "not my fault". Tell that to the young people that have to live with the consequences.

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 00:02:51

Rosie I'm afraid I can't stop using that term because I need it in order to best express myself. It does not mean anything derogitary if that helps.

Please can you show me where I placed no importance on people who regret transition?

I very clearly said that better support earlier could prevent mistakes from happening.

I place equal importance on anyone being harmed, I simply said that asking trans people to quietly get on with it and receive harm so that cisgender people do not is effectively silencing trans people and putting their needs behind cisgender people

There needs to be balance and equality of freedom to be authentic

Mollygo Fri 14-Jan-22 00:15:22

Misleading VS? But I did look at the WPATH documentation and wrote a ‘strap line’ of the parts I thought were most important for people to know about.
Are you saying that your version doesn’t agree at all?

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 00:19:07

I am very sure I do not have my own version but the opinion on the difference between your screenshot and the actual care document is mine

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 00:21:19

Good night all, early start for me

Rosie51 Fri 14-Jan-22 00:28:32

VS it is a derogatory term!!!! Even if you do not use it deliberately in that way does not mitigate that.....just as any other derogatory term isn't lessened by intent! To claim you 'need' to use such a term does not in any way excuse you. Would you excuse any other poster using a derogatory term because they felt it essential to expressing their view????? I rather think not. Please use your words to express your views in a less confrontational way smile

Doodledog Fri 14-Jan-22 00:48:13

BTW, I pointed out to you earlier that I had not accused anyone of being ridiculous for different opinions and you haven't addressed that and I would like everyone held to the same standards I am held too continuously
I hadn't addressed it as I didn't want to say again that your post made no sense whatsoever. I can't tell who you are calling ridiculous, as I can't make sense of the post, sorry.

As for the research paper, direct quotes might not be opinions, but they can be presented out of context to give a different impression, and without having read the paper you really don't know what is a direct quote and what is a summary.

It might not matter - the article might accurately summarise the paper - but my point is that it is ironic that you accuse others on this thread of not having read 'studies and research' when you haven't read it yourself.

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 00:59:31

I can't sleep so here is an explanation.

Cisgender is a real word which now exists in the Oxford dictionary as does its meaning.

Cis originates in Latin, meaning "this side". So cisgender means identifying with the gender you were assigned at birth.

Trans in Latin means "that side". So transgender means identifying with a different gender than you were assigned at birth.

If we are to say cisgender is offensive then so is transgender or trans woman or trans man, in which case we should drop trans too and just call them women or men. Obviously everyone on these threads (as I have been told several times) does accept trans people and is happy to use the word transgender so there should be no problem with the use of language that helps these discussions make sense.

Or we could go one step further? Is "woman" offensive? Or how about heterosexual? Widely used as self discriptive.

Cisgender is a word that has been used for around 30 years or so and has not suddenly changed meaning or become offensive and people who dislike it as a label seem to be happy to label trans people or themselves in other ways.

Now if any person found "cisgender" offensive but felt it acceptable not to use a trans person's correct pronouns or changed name, I'd be very baffled indeed.

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 01:07:33

doodledog again I haven't called anyone ridiculous at any point.

If my comments genuinely don't make sense to you, it is not for lack of trying on my part and there is obviously nothing I can do that will change that... So don't read them, I don't mind at all, it would only benefit me.

Rosie51 Fri 14-Jan-22 01:13:26

Cis and trans were never intended for gender debates! They refer to completely different ideas!!! Maybe research scientific papers?????

Now if any person found "cisgender" offensive but felt it acceptable not to use a trans person's correct pronouns or changed name, I'd be very baffled indeed.
Then mirror my bafflement at people willing to use 'cisgender' when it's offensive to so many people.......seems some people's sensibilities have more weight than other people's sensibilities.......... now what could possibly be the reason??????
It may astound you to read this but.... SOME OF US DON'T HAVE A GENDER IDENTITY......we accept we're male or female because we recognise our sex.... amazing eh?

Doodledog Fri 14-Jan-22 01:14:57

You miss the point, VS.

The term Cisgender suggests that gender is what defines someone, whereas 'woman' describes their sex. They are not the same thing.

Forcing the term onto those who don't believe in it is offensive. It is offensive in its own right - comparing it to pronouns used by transpeople is a side issue. FWIW I am happy to use declared pronouns in most circumstances, but I am not happy to have the need to declare them thrust upon me, and I am not happy to define myself in terms of an ideology with which I disagree.

I am a woman, men are men, transwomen are transwomen and transmen are transmen.

There is no link between trans people calling themselves trans and me not wanting to be called cis. If transpeople want to be called something else, that's fine by me so long as there is a distinction between women and whatever the term is that transwomen might prefer. A woman and a transwoman are not the same thing, although they are equally worthy of respect. The difference is that women are biologically female and transwomen are not.

Doodledog Fri 14-Jan-22 01:17:41

VioletSky

doodledog again I haven't called anyone ridiculous at any point.

If my comments genuinely don't make sense to you, it is not for lack of trying on my part and there is obviously nothing I can do that will change that... So don't read them, I don't mind at all, it would only benefit me.

It would be very difficult for me to debate this topic if I ignore both your and GagaJo's posts grin.

And we are accused of trying to silence those who disagree!

Doodledog Fri 14-Jan-22 01:18:30

Oh, and Snap, Rosie!

Rosie51 Fri 14-Jan-22 01:27:10

I support women. By which I mean those individuals blessed with XX chromosomes, vulvas, vaginas, cervixes, uteruses..... even when one or more of those functions fails to work as nature intended. I'll support transwomen to live their best lives, but sorry, you can't identify into my sex class, and especially without any consultation with me. Your male patriarchy really doesn't intrude on the female class much as you want it to. You are not female, no amount of surgery' or hormones will make you female. Present/live as female and I will support you 100%, claim to be female and sorry but reality kicks in.

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 01:38:34

My problem is doodledog that the handful of people who claim to not understand me, or otherwise ignore me, do so on any thread or topic whether we are in agreement or not so that feels very much like silencing to me

Most seem to understand me fine so I'm happy with that

Anyway I'm not willing to argue it further as we haven't been able to reach an understanding in the past. So please be advised the topic of me not making sense is now closed with me,

Of course, if no assumptions are made and I am asked to clarify I will of course do my best. If assumptions are made, I will just state that they aren't true and that is all.

Mollygo Fri 14-Jan-22 02:29:18

VS What Rosie51 and Doodledog said about women, to save me posting and you misunderstanding me.
I wouldn’t say I don’t understand you, though I suspect that what I understand about you would not fit your own perception of yourself.
I’ve never been aware that you are silenced for any reason, but I’ll be sure to notice if that happens in future.

Doodledog Fri 14-Jan-22 06:45:47

You are playing the victim again, VS.

I don’t always fail to understand you by any means, but the post I am referring to made no sense. Others had the same problem with it, so it’s not just me.

If ‘make no assumptions’ is being added to ‘don’t disagree as it’s hostile’, and don’t point out word-twisting as it is bickering’ it will soon be impossible for anyone to post from a feminist perspective. I know that you personally didn’t mention being hostile or bickering, incidentally (I’m not making assumptions), but they (or at any rate a narrow and specific definition of them) have already been listed as constraints to posts giving any opposing points of view.

Unless every point is explained and all angles explored in every single post there will always be assumptions made. They can easily be corrected if they are wrong, but if no-one made assumptions then communication would slow right down and every post would become even more laborious.

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 07:20:19

No I'm not a victim or playing at one. It's an observation from my perspective and a boundary for discussion so that I'm not accused of not explaining myself or avoiding answering when I shouldn't have to.

Hope that helps

janeainsworth Fri 14-Jan-22 07:26:37

Violetsky I don't know if you are familiar with the US school system janeainsworth
I have 3 American grandchildren, so yes I do understand what K-12 means.
Basically what that means is that trans people may have worse mental health as adults if they are harassed (bullied) at school for being transgender. So actually nothing to do with being trans or transitioning and purely to do with how they are (unacceptably) treated by others

Yes, that’s what I and others have been saying.
You seem to have missed the point of my post, which was that the title of this thread isn’t supported by what the study it referred to actually concluded.

Rosie ??

VioletSky Fri 14-Jan-22 07:37:28

Janeainsworth

That is not correct, many adults will have worse mental health if they were harassed at school. Doesn't matter why they were harassed

The bullying is the issue there, not being trans

janeainsworth Fri 14-Jan-22 07:54:20

Violetsky I’ll try again.

Do you think the newspaper headline Transgender people who start hormones as teenagers rather than adults 'have better mental health’ which is also the title of the thread, accurately reflects the conclusions of the study referred to in the article and which you quoted?
A simple yes or no would be sufficient.

GagaJo Fri 14-Jan-22 07:56:34

I agree that silencing is an issue on these threads. It could be personal or it could be cancel culture rearing its head.

I definitely think (and have said before) that the hostility shown towards pro-trans supporters is an attempt to either shut us up, or drive us away from commenting / posting / starting pro trans threads.

I've also already said that I won't give in to that pressure.

GagaJo Fri 14-Jan-22 07:57:20

Also, demanding other posters respond is bordering on bullying.

Galaxy Fri 14-Jan-22 07:57:38

And as I keep mentioning the recommendations from both Sweden and the UK in 2020 say very different things.

Galaxy Fri 14-Jan-22 08:00:41

In every single thread of this type you make sweeping statements, which person on this thread has silenced you, please indicate where this occurred.