A new study of more than 2,000 Finnish youth found that the mental health problems of young people with gender dysphoria did not diminish after they sought “gender identity” services — and in some cases their mental health issues increased.
The study, published April 4 in the Acta Paediatrica journal, tracked the mental health of 2,083 people who were referred between 1996 and 2019 for gender services before they turned 23. Finland uses mandatory health register reporting, so the study encapsulated every instance of a gender identity referral in the country.
According to the researchers, the cohort showed “markedly higher” levels of mental health disorders both before and after referrals compared with control groups. The need for intense psychiatric treatment often continued or escalated after medical interventions. The study also discovered that those who were referred for gender services after 2010 had greater psychiatric needs compared with those referred before 2010.
Mental health problems increased from 9.8% to 60.7% for youths who underwent male to female “transition” procedures and 21.6% to 54.5% for those who went through “female to male” procedures.
After adjusting for those who previously received psychiatric treatment, gender-referred adolescents had similarly heightened risks of mental health issues — about three times higher than the female control group and five times higher than the male control group participants.
“Regardless of gender, adolescents suffering from [gender dysphoria] present with excessive psychiatric morbidity,” the study’s authors note. “Subsequent to medical [gender reassignment], psychiatric treatment needs appear to increase. It should be noted that in some individuals, medical [gender reassignment] appears to be linked to deterioration in mental health.”
The authors also stressed that physicians must address the effects of gender “reassignments” and the expectations of patients before going forward with gender identity procedures.
The findings that young people tend to experience “considerable severe” mental health issues before receiving a referral to gender identity procedures and that as these issues worsen over time indicates that gender dysphoria might occur after mental health challenges in some adolescents, according to the researchers.
They concluded, “Psychiatric needs do not subside after medical gender reassignment.”