I agree that this is a concern right now, but I also think this is something that will see a rapid decline as Trump rolls out his new changes. Eliminating the DOE as well as the other things he has suggested, like prison terms for those pushing transgenderism on a child, restricting surgeries, etc.
Gender Desphoria had an ICD10 code for a mental diagnosis, but when the ICD11 codes came out, it was a little more liberalized.
There are only 2 sexes, others need counseling and support.
Transgender people often have different genes, such as 3 chromosomes instead of just 2. It is often obvious that they have characteristics of the opposite sex that they were born with. I know some who were suicidal until they acknowledged they were trans. You canât just take away this ability to be trans and expect them to cope. There will be suicides! To deny this to them is pure selfishness, putting your needs to feel superior above their needs to be happy. Why do you keep judging people who are different from you? Let people make their own medical choices. âMy body, my choiceâ - remember? That said, this is too complex to allow children to make these decisions. There is always extensive counseling for trans people before they are allowed to make any physical changes, so your post is uninformed.
Completely untrue that it often leads to violence. I literally just did a research paper on GD.
Transgenderism is already classified as a mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorder in the medical world. I am a CPC and code it frequently unfortunately. Current ICD 10 code F64.0.
The more I consider this topic as possible mental disorder, the more I see it closely resembling another topic with which I am more familiar - eating disorders and body dysmorphia. My daughter suffered for over a decade âseeingâ and âfeelingâ things that simply were not, objectively, there. She saw and felt she was a 200 lb woman when, in fact, she was a 120 lb thin young woman. No matter what her mind told her, it wasnât true. What was necessary was mental health counseling that challenged those beliefs. Where did they come from? How do we work to help her see what the rest of the world saw? Iâm seeing a lot of similarities!
Sad part is it used to be classified as gender dysphoria a mental disorder. There has been some research that may lead to chemicals sprayed on our foods as streams, ponds etc. close to hvy use of chemicals showing frogs and fish becoming infertile and becoming transgendered. Could be a link more independent studies should be demanded.
I believe there are people who know what âde-transitioningâ therapy would like, and we need a committee of experts to begin to lay out plans for creating a new mental health system based on reality based scientific data-h morals and values. The fact is that it will take a massive whole of government approach to doing this. We need to change wokeism treatment concepts. Change universities teaching wokeism ideas. Change licensing boards for needed CEUs and other criteria. Change the DSM to reclassify dysphoria back to disorder. This will require a multi-prong serious plan. Iâd love to be involved.
Being gay is not a mental disorder. Gender dysphoria is. They are 2 different things. Too many children who were likely just gay have been pushed into âgender affirmingâ care which has done irreparable harm. Too many people who have gender dysphoria have deep issues and with counseling discover and address the root of their issue. Others truly do want to change sex but should only do so once old enough to go through extensive counseling to ensure as smooth a psychological transition as possible. I have a friend who is a trans-woman. I knew her when she was an 18-year-old boy (back in the early 80s). The MD he found made him wait until he was 21 then go through 2 years of counseling before starting hormone therapy and then surgery. Even with that kind of preparation he still struggled. Gender dysphoria and being gay are two different things.
The problem now is that counselors hands are tied by the current DSM guidance, so referral for counseling is not going to help. They are not allowed to suggest that the person is suffering from mental illness if they want to change their gender.
This is the danger of allowing one source, such as the DSM, to dictate mental health in this country. We need to return to common sense. This is how all healthcare works now⌠providersâ hands are tied by protocols. We saw the results of that in the Covid response. Who decides the protocols?
According to the DSM: if you meet 2 of the criteria on the list (see examples in quotes) for a duration of 6+ months you have gender dysphoria (which is not a mental illness) and you can be authorized for transition.
âA strong desire for the primary and/or secondary sex characteristics of the other gender.
A strong desire to be of the other gender (or some alternative gender different from oneâs designated gender.â
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK577212/table/pediat_transgender.T.dsm5_criteria_for_g/
Thank you for drawing attention to this important topic. My only concern would be that research tends to follow the money, so we need to be careful whoâs research we trust. This would best be done in the private sector by entities with no conflict of interest. It would also be worth looking into what sources were used to change the DSM guidance in 2013.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK577212/table/pediat_transgender.T.dsm5_criteria_for_g/]
Thank you for drawing attention to endocrine disrupters in our environment. Many people have been concerned that these may influence the reproductive health of developing bodies. Now we have increased rates of people with homosexual and transgender identities. Correlation does not equal causation, but it does seem worth further research.
Fully agree, however I donât think the most effective means of dealing with this issue is at the government level. The DSM-V is compendium of all known diagnosable mental illnesses, and the reason weâre on version 5 is because it keeps getting changed by psychiatric researchers.
The root of the problem is severe corruption and political activism within the medical research community. The DSM-V declassified Transgenderism as a disorder for political reasons, because the DSM-V is a relatively recent update made by corrupt researchers with overt political motives.
The thing the government could do, however, is to completely halt all federal research funding and require all research institutions to abide by a very strict set of guidelines and an external review process thatâs handled by unaffiliated subject matter experts. Experiments delineated in research papers must be able to be reproduced by the unaffiliated experts. Statistical observations must be triple-checked and the math used must be independently verifiable. Basically, holding research entities accountable to the point where accepting federal funding means submitting to having their work rigorously audited, and facing legal penalties for intentionally falsifying their research.
(How doctors get around these laws)
The brain can physically change in response to the environment. An example would be individuals with PTSD or victims of long term abuse. Narcissist have brain abnormalities that likely were caused by genetics and or abuse.
The argument that this is purely a physical condition in which the individual was born in the wrong body doesnât add up. Scans of transgender brains were not obtained at birth. The scans were obtained after they identified as transgender. I understand that their brain structure matches to the gender they identify with, but what led to this outcome is the question
Keeping this in mind, a child has high neuroplasticity, resulting in absorbing information at a high rate as synapses pruning occurs. Many factors shape how their minds develop and who they will become. There are key milestones that are impacted by environment, which includes sexuality, understanding gender roles and the cues to the opposite sex for procreation. We know this because our sex organs are necessary for survival of the species. As such, gender roles and sexuality are necessary components to development for survival. So the idea that gender isnât real, assigned, or even fluid, isnât a part of healthy psychological development, and has a negative impact on survival and the evolution of the species.
As we all recall, adolescence brings surging hormones, uncomfortable physical changes, extreme emotions, and the struggle to fit in. The pandemic led to our youth sitting at home staring at their phones and computers. Their rapidly developing minds were forced to socialize online affecting their development. Their idols put a spotlight on sex, sexuality, homosexuality, and transgenderism. An adolescent naturally rebels as they stretch their wings into adulthood. Their hormones are raging. They test their boundaries, and strive to be different while still fitting in with their peers and compete for mate matches. .
The LGBT community is edgy, rebellious, different but still fit in. Their brains were rapidly pruning synapses. The consistent repetition of ideas that bombarded our youth were affecting their development and perception.
As we all know, there is a final growth spurt that occurs in the early 20âs. A surge of sex hormones signal this spurt and completes the brain development. The part of the brain that is responsible for impulse control, cognitive analysis, abstract thought, moderation of behavior, self regulation of emotions, and complex decision making skills are the last to completely develop. This fact alone should be reason enough to deny gender affirming care to a child. A child does not have the maturity or ability to consent to such a thing, let alone truly understand the seriousness of such a choice. Tampering with a developing childâs sex hormones is also tampering with their brain development.
I would also like to point out that psychological issues such as borderline personality disorder, or DID can manifest as transgender. These conditions are rooted in identity crises. The number of transgender individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder are alarmingly high. A borderline is a shape shifter who is always changing who they are in an effort to be liked and loved. Itâs a very painful experience for them. It is a very harmful idea to send to such an individual that they can change their gender and it will fix what is wrong inside. It is a very unhealthy message to anyone that their outside will fix their mental anguish, or illness.
I believe the only way forward that does not cause harm to our children is recognizing how crucial it is to control what these minds are exposed to. Everything they encounter affects who they will become. There was a time in which the adults understood this and sheltered their young from mature themes, ideas, and content.
I have rambled. Apologies. Pandoraâs box has been opened. We canât undo what we have done. We can only learn from it and correct our mistakes.
In summary, society and our education system have caused great harm to developing minds. The development of transgender individuals was detailed by genetics and a harmful mature environment. In my opinion this would mean a mental illness.
However, I do feel that once they have reached adulthood and passed their last stage of development, their is no turning back. The synapses have been pruned. I do not feel that the condition can be treated with therapy or psych meds. A truly transgender person, will only ever find healing from transitioning. In these individuals, I intend to treat them as my equal, and they deserve the same rights as anyone else. I personally, do not have an issue with an adult receiving necessary gender affirming care to address their mental illness.
I think intense psychological evaluations that are not biased or paid for by big pharma should be mandated to ensure the individual is not suffering from another issue masking as body dysmorphia, and to prevent further damage. I do not think they should be made to feel less than, defective, or wrong. We canât undo what has been done.
I feel very differently about our youth. I think bombarding their minds with ideas that they can be one of 150 genders, and they can change bodies as if itâs a new outfit is destructive, irresponsible, and child abuse. The law around youth and transgender shouldnât be about denying their existence, but about molding future minds.
M
Thank you for your helpful contribution to the discussion.
What can be done with mental health professionals who dismiss this as a mental, behavioral and neurodevelopmental disorder though? I know one troubled man who was already taking hormones for some time, who was dismissed by a psychiatrist after roughly two minutes because the doctor saw nothing wrong with him.
First, thank you for contributing to the discussion. Even if we disagree, we can at least try to speak and learn from each other.
So, I find the argument of trans people having 3 chromosomes confusing. Downs children have an extra chromosome, and the physical difference at birth and the first few years is easily observable. But this is not the case with many who struggle with gender dysphoria. Their struggle is internal in their mind. If they had an extra chromosome, why would they not be like Downs children?
If this was genetic, then how is it even possible that some people de-transition?
I am sorry that people that you knew struggled with suicidal thoughts. Let me say I donât want anyone harming himself. Despair is a real issue. And mental health care is certainly needed in such cases. However, my argument is that if a person with transgenderism is suicidal, this is a symptom of a deeper problem (or several deeper problems). Ultimately, it still comes back to the fact that there is a disconnect between the mind and the body. My post and my hope is that the medical practitioners of our time can learn how to heal this disconnect, reconnecting mind to body, and therefore end suicidality but in a way that also brings real healing.
It is not selfishness that I speak from. It is not putting my needs above others so I can be happy. I could argue, why are you standing in the way of attempts to heal the disconnect between the mind and the body? Why are you selfishly enabling harm, mutilation, and further psychological hurt to people just to promote your own philosophical views? The argument can go both ways.
âMy body, my choiceâ - Yes, I have heard this slogan. I disagree with it, though. Anorexic and bulimic people who think they are fat when they are stick-thin cannot reasonably make decisions for their own bodies. Why? Because their mental sickness distorts their perceptions. People with split personalities should not be allowed to identify as two different people - for example, try figuring out if all those multiple personalities get to vote and how you would judge this! Again, mental sickness distorts bodily perception. Finally, the argument of âmy body, my choiceâ is a horrible argument, especially where suicides can and do happen.
There is not always extensive counseling for people being allowed to make physical changes. I know one man who went to Planned Parenthood once, was prescribed hormones after about 15 minutes with a doctor who never saw his medical history, and began changing his body just like that. Whatâs sad is that the doctor had to lie that this young man had a certain kind of endocrine disease (without any testing!) in order to prescribe what was normally forbidden.
Anyway, Iâd like to close with a final thought. Why is it that for transgenderism, it is the body that is seen that must be changed, and not the mind? Is the mind some kind of fixed, eternal constant that can never be wrong?
Good discussion. The only way people can come together on anything dividing is if we talk with each other, and not at each other.
You donât understand this at all, probably because you arenât trans. But, they feel better emotionally and physically when prescribed the estrogen. They have always known they were different from a very young age. They only want to commit suicide when you try to deprive them of who they feel they truly were born as. You donât have that right to deprive them of finding their own path in life. They already get regular counseling. Youâre pretty sick trying to take away peopleâs choices and acting like they are crazy for being trans. Itâs not all mental and trying to force them to be someone that they are not, is hazardous to their health. Itâs people like you that try to take away everyoneâs choices and lock them up and force them to act how you want them to act, that are the problem with society. Get over it and worry about improving yourself! With your attitude, I bet you are one of those people who called the unvaccinated evil and wanted to put them in quarantine camps.
These are all interesting theories, but I do not personally think there will be a conclusive answer anytime soon. My thought is that people have always struggled with gender issues and identities throughout history, but that it has never warranted the biology altering methods we see practiced today. It is common for kids during puberty to dislike the changes they are experiencing or struggle with the thought of expected gender roles. The same can be true for adults. I have known many women who are not very feminine, have jobs and hobbies typically associated with male gender roles, and vice versa with men. They are not gay or transgender.
Many identity issues in puberty and teen years pass over time, and many adults learn to love themselves even if they donât fit stereotypical gender roles. It has always been this way, so it is concerning that people who may be struggling with these issues today are offered a path that can permanently alter their biology and cause deep regret and health issues later on.
I say we classify Christians as mentally ill.
Allow the LGBTQIA+ community make their own decisions about their own healthcare with their doctors - itâs not for us to limit their choices. Isnât the point of MAHA to allow medical freedom?