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http://www.wsj.com/articles/paul-mchugh-transgender-surgery-isnt-the-solution [login to see]
"… policy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention.
This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a mental disorder in two respects. The first is that the idea of sex misalignment is simply mistaken—it does not correspond with physical reality. The second is that it can lead to grim psychological outcomes.
The transgendered suffer a disorder of ‘assumption’ like those in other disorders familiar to psychiatrists. With the transgendered, the disordered assumption is that the individual differs from what seems given in nature—namely one's maleness or femaleness. Other kinds of disordered assumptions are held by those who suffer from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, where the assumption that departs from physical reality is the belief by the dangerously thin that they are overweight.
Such ideas work like ruling passions in their subjects' minds and tend to be accompanied by a solipsistic argument.
For the transgendered, this argument holds that one's feeling of ‘gender’ is a conscious, subjective sense that, being in one's mind, cannot be questioned by others. The individual often seeks not just society's tolerance of this ‘personal truth’ but affirmation of it.
You won't hear it from those championing transgender equality, but controlled and follow-up studies reveal fundamental problems with this movement. When children who reported transgender feelings were tracked without medical or surgical treatment at both Vanderbilt University and London's Portman Clinic, 70%-80% of them spontaneously lost those feelings. Some 25% did have persisting feelings; what differentiates those individuals remains to be discerned.
Johns Hopkins University launched a study in the 1970s comparing the outcomes of transgendered people who had the surgery with the outcomes of those who did not. Most of the surgically treated patients described themselves as ‘satisfied’ by the results, but their subsequent psycho-social adjustments were no better than those who didn't have the surgery.
And so at Hopkins we stopped doing sex-reassignment surgery, since producing a ‘satisfied’ but still troubled patient seemed an inadequate reason for surgically amputating normal organs.
A 2011 study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden produced the most illuminating results yet regarding the transgendered, evidence that should give advocates pause. The long-term study—up to 30 years—followed 324 people who had sex-reassignment surgery.
The study revealed that beginning about 10 years after having the surgery, the transgendered began to experience increasing mental difficulties. Most shockingly, their suicide mortality rose almost 20-fold above the comparable nontransgender population. This disturbing result has as yet no explanation but probably reflects the growing sense of isolation reported by the aging transgendered after surgery. The high suicide rate certainly challenges the surgery prescription.
People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder."
"… policy makers and the media are doing no favors either to the public or the transgendered by treating their confusions as a right in need of defending rather than as a mental disorder that deserves understanding, treatment and prevention.
This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a mental disorder in two respects. The first is that the idea of sex misalignment is simply mistaken—it does not correspond with physical reality. The second is that it can lead to grim psychological outcomes.
The transgendered suffer a disorder of ‘assumption’ like those in other disorders familiar to psychiatrists. With the transgendered, the disordered assumption is that the individual differs from what seems given in nature—namely one's maleness or femaleness. Other kinds of disordered assumptions are held by those who suffer from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, where the assumption that departs from physical reality is the belief by the dangerously thin that they are overweight.
Such ideas work like ruling passions in their subjects' minds and tend to be accompanied by a solipsistic argument.
For the transgendered, this argument holds that one's feeling of ‘gender’ is a conscious, subjective sense that, being in one's mind, cannot be questioned by others. The individual often seeks not just society's tolerance of this ‘personal truth’ but affirmation of it.
You won't hear it from those championing transgender equality, but controlled and follow-up studies reveal fundamental problems with this movement. When children who reported transgender feelings were tracked without medical or surgical treatment at both Vanderbilt University and London's Portman Clinic, 70%-80% of them spontaneously lost those feelings. Some 25% did have persisting feelings; what differentiates those individuals remains to be discerned.
Johns Hopkins University launched a study in the 1970s comparing the outcomes of transgendered people who had the surgery with the outcomes of those who did not. Most of the surgically treated patients described themselves as ‘satisfied’ by the results, but their subsequent psycho-social adjustments were no better than those who didn't have the surgery.
And so at Hopkins we stopped doing sex-reassignment surgery, since producing a ‘satisfied’ but still troubled patient seemed an inadequate reason for surgically amputating normal organs.
A 2011 study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden produced the most illuminating results yet regarding the transgendered, evidence that should give advocates pause. The long-term study—up to 30 years—followed 324 people who had sex-reassignment surgery.
The study revealed that beginning about 10 years after having the surgery, the transgendered began to experience increasing mental difficulties. Most shockingly, their suicide mortality rose almost 20-fold above the comparable nontransgender population. This disturbing result has as yet no explanation but probably reflects the growing sense of isolation reported by the aging transgendered after surgery. The high suicide rate certainly challenges the surgery prescription.
People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women. Claiming that this is civil-rights matter and encouraging surgical intervention is in reality to collaborate with and promote a mental disorder."
Transgender Surgery Isn't the Solution
Posted from wsj.comPosted in these groups: 
Transgender
Mental Health
Transgender Mental Health
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 5
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That Johns Hopkins study has been debunked for years. The professor who championed that study has been proven to have manipulated data in order to fit his conclusion. Doctor McHugh took dangerous assumptions and then forced his conclusions to match. Absolutely nobody with any credibility references McHugh anymore and even J.H. Has distanced themselves from his "research".
In recent years it has been demonstrated over and over That gender identity is a critical part of our identity and that it is an innate trait, unlike gender expression. The leading theory suggests that this occurs between weeks 15-20 in utero during what Is known as the androgen wash.
Leading credible psychiatric and medical associations in this country and others have long since determined that being transgender itself is not a disorder and that the sense of incongruence and the depression which can occur is only labeled within the DSM when that depression affects ones ability to function.
Furthermore, the use of things like the word "transgendered" instead of transgender shows a lack of understanding and a lack of compassion. It demonstrates that the author does not know what they are talking about. Labeling the trans community as mentally unstable creates an inaccurate and dangerous stigma which not only harms the individual with false information, but also fuels those the misunderstandings of others.
In recent years it has been demonstrated over and over That gender identity is a critical part of our identity and that it is an innate trait, unlike gender expression. The leading theory suggests that this occurs between weeks 15-20 in utero during what Is known as the androgen wash.
Leading credible psychiatric and medical associations in this country and others have long since determined that being transgender itself is not a disorder and that the sense of incongruence and the depression which can occur is only labeled within the DSM when that depression affects ones ability to function.
Furthermore, the use of things like the word "transgendered" instead of transgender shows a lack of understanding and a lack of compassion. It demonstrates that the author does not know what they are talking about. Labeling the trans community as mentally unstable creates an inaccurate and dangerous stigma which not only harms the individual with false information, but also fuels those the misunderstandings of others.
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SSG Patricia King
Capt Seid Waddell - You are correct. Stating my opinion does not make it fact. I allow the DSM-V to do that. I allow that to be backed by the American medical association and the American psychological association. Both of them state that being trans is not a mental or sexual dysfunction. I consider the leading manual on mental disorders and the leading associations on medical and psychological health to be fairly definitive.
And calling you a dinosaur just made me feel better. Kind of like continuing to believe outdated information makes you feel better.
And calling you a dinosaur just made me feel better. Kind of like continuing to believe outdated information makes you feel better.
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Capt Seid Waddell
SSG Patricia King, the DSM-V was changed just three years ago as a result of political considerations rather than medical findings.
"On Saturday, the APA’s Board of Trustees at a meeting in Washington, D.C., voted to change how it classes trans identity in the forthcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Currently, transgender identity is classed as Gender Identity Disorder, and has been labeled as such since the third edition of the DSM published in the 1980s.
This has long been protested by many in the trans community who point out that disorders are associated with symptoms that impede people from living their lives fully and which encroach on their overall well-being. This does not describe the experience of many trans people who are well adjusted and in all respects are both mentally and physically healthy.
They have also argued that, while their gender appearance and identity mismatch may cause them depression and anxiety, those elements can be fixed through gender realignment intervention.
However, in order to access such medical intervention, trans people were nearly always required to have a GID diagnosis, hampering them with the stigma of a ‘mental disorder’ that can cost them employment opportunities and which has served to increase anti-trans prejudice."
http://www.care2.com/causes/being-transgender-will-no-longer-be-classified-as-a-disorder.html
"On Saturday, the APA’s Board of Trustees at a meeting in Washington, D.C., voted to change how it classes trans identity in the forthcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
Currently, transgender identity is classed as Gender Identity Disorder, and has been labeled as such since the third edition of the DSM published in the 1980s.
This has long been protested by many in the trans community who point out that disorders are associated with symptoms that impede people from living their lives fully and which encroach on their overall well-being. This does not describe the experience of many trans people who are well adjusted and in all respects are both mentally and physically healthy.
They have also argued that, while their gender appearance and identity mismatch may cause them depression and anxiety, those elements can be fixed through gender realignment intervention.
However, in order to access such medical intervention, trans people were nearly always required to have a GID diagnosis, hampering them with the stigma of a ‘mental disorder’ that can cost them employment opportunities and which has served to increase anti-trans prejudice."
http://www.care2.com/causes/being-transgender-will-no-longer-be-classified-as-a-disorder.html
DSM-5 Plays Sleight Of Hand With Trans Diagnosis | Care2 Causes
Will the APA's changes to DSM-5 help or hurt transgender people. Here's what you need to know.
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SSG Patricia King
Capt Seid Waddell - I'm familiar with the findings. The conclusion that the decision to change the findings on political grounds is thin at best. One cannot argue that 1 there is a condition that exists when a Trans person is suffering as a result of the i congruence between biological sex and gender identity and 2 that our medical and insurance system require something with a label in order to treat and pay. After all, if there is nothing wrong then why is someone being treated.
The declassification from GIR to GD, however, did not water down anything, but instead more accurately diagnose the problem rather than the person. Many trans people, both men and women, who have competed their transition process do not suffer dysphoria and therefore do not require follow on trans care. They live happily in their authentic gender.
You and I can disagree all day on the nature of how one becomes trans and what the correct treatment steps we. We can site sources on both sides of this argument which support our conclusions. I have written papers and done research to support my conclusions. I have been quoted in a number of publications on the subject. I highly doubt that either of us will be changing the others mind on this topic. Seeing as I have lived as a Trans person, both closeted and out for quite some time, have recieved therapy and care for it, and have graduated from a Christian college with a theological degree (it speaks to the religious side of this issue which always exists) I'm going to say that I have been all around this issue and am at least a little qualified to render opinions on the matter.
My issue with arguments to the contrary is twofold. The first is the danger they pose to the trans community in terms of treatment. Repariative therapies have been proven time and again to be dangerous same that does not put me at ease.
The second concern is that such arguments place an inaccurate stigma around trans people. It breads a lack of understanding and furthers hatred towards a community of people. You will likely disagree because of the fundamental difference in beliefs that we hold. For now I suspect this ends in stalemate. As this is your thread you are welcome to the last word.
The declassification from GIR to GD, however, did not water down anything, but instead more accurately diagnose the problem rather than the person. Many trans people, both men and women, who have competed their transition process do not suffer dysphoria and therefore do not require follow on trans care. They live happily in their authentic gender.
You and I can disagree all day on the nature of how one becomes trans and what the correct treatment steps we. We can site sources on both sides of this argument which support our conclusions. I have written papers and done research to support my conclusions. I have been quoted in a number of publications on the subject. I highly doubt that either of us will be changing the others mind on this topic. Seeing as I have lived as a Trans person, both closeted and out for quite some time, have recieved therapy and care for it, and have graduated from a Christian college with a theological degree (it speaks to the religious side of this issue which always exists) I'm going to say that I have been all around this issue and am at least a little qualified to render opinions on the matter.
My issue with arguments to the contrary is twofold. The first is the danger they pose to the trans community in terms of treatment. Repariative therapies have been proven time and again to be dangerous same that does not put me at ease.
The second concern is that such arguments place an inaccurate stigma around trans people. It breads a lack of understanding and furthers hatred towards a community of people. You will likely disagree because of the fundamental difference in beliefs that we hold. For now I suspect this ends in stalemate. As this is your thread you are welcome to the last word.
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Capt Seid Waddell
SSG Patricia King, I meant no disrespect to either you or the transgendered people, nor do I discount the problem they face in society. My point is that this is fundamentally a mental problem - the mind and the body are at odds with one another, and this is abnormal.
The decision to treat it as a mental condition or to call it something else doesn't change the nature of the problem for the individual experiencing it.
Identifying and treating the condition is properly a medical decision, while being concerned with the person's integration into society is more of a social/political decision.
It does not help the medical profession to confuse the two, IMHO. Science is science and politics is politics, and mixing the two is harmful to the integrity of the science.
I still don’t believe that a rational discussion of the subject constitutes abuse deserving of a down-vote.
The decision to treat it as a mental condition or to call it something else doesn't change the nature of the problem for the individual experiencing it.
Identifying and treating the condition is properly a medical decision, while being concerned with the person's integration into society is more of a social/political decision.
It does not help the medical profession to confuse the two, IMHO. Science is science and politics is politics, and mixing the two is harmful to the integrity of the science.
I still don’t believe that a rational discussion of the subject constitutes abuse deserving of a down-vote.
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Some years ago the city of Santa Monica, California decided that every home had to be handicapped accessible. Every home. Regardless of whether or not a handicapped person lived in every home. Thus, an entire city could be disrupted, every citizen forced to bear the cost of modifying their homes to accommodate handicapped persons. Does that make any possible sense whatsoever? Of course not. It is merely the typical response of the Left to direct our lives with their "good intentions". Now, let's consider the incidence of transgender persons. Is there one in every class? Every school? Every school district? Every community? Every state? Of course not. And yet we disrupt the lives of all citizens to accommodate the needs of a relatively rare occurrence. Why not take this on a case-by-case basis and if a person's civil rights are abused in a particular incidence, have a court adjudicate that one and only that one matter. Let the rule of law rather than the rule of good intentions prevail. But, that's just common sense which appears to be a a premium these days. I'm beginning to suspect that America has a death wish...
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Capt Seid Waddell
CPT Jack Durish, "I'm beginning to suspect that America has a death wish..."
This is what happens when the liberal/progressives gain power. Raw emotion displaces rational thought.
This is what happens when the liberal/progressives gain power. Raw emotion displaces rational thought.
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I am all, but certain this will be punted until after the elections. There are some major issues still being worked out and everyone who said spring was sorely misinformed.
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