A new Finnish study has found that mental health problems \u201cincreased markedly\u201d amongst young people who underwent medical treatment to change gender \u2013 with a 6-fold rise in psychiatric morbidity in one cohort.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
And it found that the psychiatric needs of adolescents who present questioning their gender did not subside after medical gender reassignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe need for specialist-level psychiatric treatment increased considerably in follow-up among those who underwent medical gender reassignment,\u201d the long-term study found.<\/p>\n
The findings have been highlighted by critics of \u201cgender-affirming care\u201d, who have long been critical of an unquestioning approach to social, medical and surgical interventions for patients, including adolescents, who present with gender dysphoria \u2013 and who have called for increased scrutiny for harmful outcomes.<\/p>\n
The researchers said that the adolescents \u201chad markedly higher psychiatric morbidity than controls before and after referral\u201d \u2013 and that the study found treatment needs \u201coften persisting and even intensifying after medical interventions\u201d.<\/p>\n
And they warned that for some adolescents the transgender medical interventions \u201cmight even have a negative impact\u201d.\u00a0 The \u201cfindings emphasise the need for thorough psychiatric assessment and ongoing treatment throughout medical gender reassignment,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n