‘Gender-Affirming Care’ Is Driving Transgender Mental Health Problems

Written by Dustin Luchmee on July 11, 2023. Posted in Current News

Wearing a black cowboy hat, a red “America First” T-shirt, and a silver cross, you would never know Matt Rey was born female

At 24, Rey underwent transgender treatments. Now 32, Rey is experiencing serious health complications resulting from an overprescription of testosterone and a mastectomy.

Rey is part of a growing number of “detransitioners” who are warning youth considering “gender-affirming care” not to do it. “While I understand transition does not go badly for everyone, many trans people can have health complications later in life. If you are young, please don’t do this to yourself. Transitioning is NOT for kids. Parents, don’t do this to your children! The risks are too high,” Rey wrote on Twitter.

“Gender-affirming care,” which includes the administration of hormones and sex reassignment surgery, is claimed by advocates to save lives, however, this proposed remedy may actually be what’s driving the high mortality rate in the transgender community.

Authors of a recent Danish study of transgender suicide wrote, “Transgender individuals may be exposed to systemic negativity regarding their trans identity in the form of bullying, discrimination, exclusion, and prejudice, which in turn may result in alienation and internalized stigma, mental health problems, and, ultimately, suicidal behavior.”

The Lure of Incentivized ‘Gender-Affirming Care’

Rey experienced gender dysphoria at a young age. “When I was 5, my mom walked me over to the girls’ clothing section, and she was looking at girly outfits. I was looking at the boys section and wondering why she wasn’t taking me there,” Rey told The Epoch Times.

As a confused and isolated teenager, Rey looked to the internet for answers. Transgender individuals who shared glamorous stories about transitioning convinced Rey that a new identity was the solution to happiness.

Turning to the gender identity clinic at the Tavistock Institute in London, Rey was surprised to learn that access to “gender-affirming care” was so easy—one visit with a primary doctor, two consultations at the gender identity clinic, then bloodwork—were all it took to begin the transitioning process.

Rey’s bloodwork indicated high levels of testosterone. “One of the doctors said I was ‘intersex’ because of this, but that is not how you diagnose that,” Rey said. “I probably had PCOS, which was not diagnosed at the time. I didn’t even question it, because when you go to a doctor, you expect to be told the truth. When they told me that I was intersex, it made me want to transition, because it made sense as to why I experienced all this confusion all my life.”

“Intersex” is an umbrella term used to categorize a person having both male and female sex characteristics. These include differences in anatomy, hormones, chromosomes, or reproductive organs.

A typical intersex diagnosis requires a physical examination and genetic testing, neither of which were included in Rey’s medical evaluation.

“Gender-affirming care” services are being incentivized by both public and private institutions. Patients like Rey are often steered in the wrong direction of care, jeopardizing their mental and physical health (pdf).

Organizations providing “gender-affirming care” can contribute to the confusion around gender identity, sexuality, and the possibility of an individual being intersex, a condition that is actually very rare.

Rey, like many in the LGBT community, is against the push for children to transition and is concerned these procedures are being incentivized by the medical community. “Therapists are being paid today to affirm gender rather than do thorough work on a client’s psyche,” Rey said.

A Social Contagion With Dire Consequences

Dr. Miriam Grossman, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and author of “Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness,” stated in an interview with MG Show that the idea of being born in the wrong body is dangerous for kids and has no foundation in medicine or biology.

Grossman says kids are being indoctrinated to believe these ideas; when authorities, teachers, guidance counselors, and internet influencers tell kids this, they believe it. “This is why we have something like a 5,000 percent increase in the number of kids who are identifying as something other than what their body is,” she said. “It’s a social contagion.”

A social contagion is a phenomenon of feelings or behaviors that spreads among peer groups, usually with adolescents and more common with girls, Grossman explained. There are many examples in psychiatry of past social contagions, such as suicidal behaviors, cutting, and eating disorders.

“That’s why we have entire groups of girls who are friends from school or from online, and they are going together to a Planned Parenthood or to a gender clinic to get injected with testosterone,” she said.

Grossman is urging parents to become educated and to inoculate their families against this destructive contagion.

Indoctrination Under the Guise of Affirmation

As an outspoken critic of gender ideology, Rey is an active member of Gays Against Groomers, a nonprofit organization of gays against the sexualization, indoctrination, and medicalization of children under the guise of acceptance and equality.

“If the truth is told, gender ideology is removed from schools, kids are not taken to drag shows, and agendas are not being pushed down people’s throats, only then will we be able to recover and prevent these atrocities from happening,” Rey said.

The social obsession over gender is doing more harm than good by pressuring individuals to take drastic steps to fit into an identity without considering the implications on their well-being, explained Rey.

In 2021, Rey noticed that Hollywood was beginning to push transgenderism, and shortly thereafter, mainstream media followed suit.

The craze surrounding gender affirmation is a social trend that according to Rey, is doing irreparable harm with intentional coercion tactics to exploit vulnerable people. Anyone calling them out is referred to as “transphobic,” including Rey, who embraced transgenderism.

Rey believes this radical pressure is driving the high transgender mortality rate. “There’s this cult-like mentality to be a victim and romanticize this ideology, it sets you up for failure. The only way for people to really help is by telling the truth. The lies are causing a lot of harm to actual trans people,” Rey said. “The radicals are forcing their beliefs on everyone else so that public tolerance is dwindling and people with actual gender dysphoria are not getting the help they need.”

The Unseen Side of Transitioning

“Would you rather have a living daughter or a dead son?” This fearmongering phrase is commonly used to manipulate parents into supporting their child’s “gender-affirming care.”

In Rey’s experience, “gender-affirming care” is sold as the only solution to improve the mental health of individuals struggling with gender dysphoria. Yet “gender-affirming care” can exacerbate mental health problems rather than improve them. “When the façade goes away and you see that you can’t really be the opposite sex, it begins to wear on you. It sets you up for a lot of disappointment,” Rey said.

Hidden behind the social glitz of transitioning is the common experience of post-surgical depression. When procedures do not go as planned, or results are not as expected, patients can become severely depressed.

Rey experienced depression after a mastectomy that resulted in an infection and permanent nerve damage.

The gender affirmation care industry advertises dedicated support. However, once the damage is done, Rey said, the abandonment begins. “There’s so much care for you when you’re transitioning, but once it’s done with, [the doctors] cast you away.”

The Negative Impact on Others

Transitioning to the opposite gender involves the shedding of a past identity. Watching a loved one transition can be an extremely traumatic and confusing experience for family and friends. “The process was very difficult for my parents, but especially for my mom. She was mourning her little girl. I was her first child, so that was very difficult,” Rey said.

In a social media interview, Rey describes the mental anguish of coming to terms with all that had happened and the crushing impact on family, expressing overwhelming regret, shame, and grief.

Individuals seeking “gender-affirming care” can be so self-focused that they overlook the impact on those around them. “People think it’s all about them,” said Rey. “I see posts from men online who have kids and a wife and get mad that their partner won’t see them as female. The ideology makes you very self-centered.”

Facing Reality With Honesty and Courage

Like many who understand the reality of transitioning, Rey is concerned about “gender-affirming care” being pushed on children and supported by parents, often leading to permanent and irreversible damage and a lifetime of regret.

Rey advocates for parents to have honest conversations with their children who are considering “gender-affirming care.” “I would tell parents that they need to let their child express themselves, especially through conversation. Check if there are traumas because a lot of gender dysphoria is trauma-based. Explain to them the dangers and realities of what these procedures are.”

Lastly, Rey advises against a permanent approach to something that children will likely outgrow. “With children, it is very much a phase and they’ll grow out it. The NHS confirmed this. If you affirm their gender [change] and allow them to go through life-changing permanent surgery before they develop, you are opening the door for them to resent you forever, even if you think they are helping your kid.”

See more here theepochtimes

Header image: Hexall Health

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