I will ever be of the opinion that one should not take the mental illness of dysphoria and use it to promote self harm through the mutilation and bodily harm that hormone blockers and affirmation surgeries are. I cannot imagine any answer is correct other than taking someone who is distraught and for us to try to reinforce and support their love for themselves, for who they are, as they were born. To support who they were born as and not to try and change them. If Sex and Gender are not the same exact thing, and Gender is some social construct, then we are trying to alter people to adhere to some made up societal standard. That is wrong.
We should teach and help people to embrace their bodies, their sex. Instead you have aimed for the total opposite and I cannot endorse that approach.
This opposition need not be born out of hate though. There is no hate in saying people should learn to love themselves. It is genuine concern and disagreement. When we cross paths I treat them civil, and unless pressed for opinion then they would not know or hear my thoughts on the matter. Any who would assault those suffering from dysphoria should answer for crimes.
I would implore you to understand that we can approach this issue with love and apparently arrive at different conclusions. Not everything that is different is Republican hate.
Let's start with the mental illness that people throw around and I will start with some basic medical concepts. BTW, you do know I am a doctor, correct? Yes, a transgender doctor and before you get carried away with the freakout, I am considered one of the best hospitalists in the region. I do indeed teach medical students. I was preceptor of the year last year. I also am part of several committees including clinical documentation integrity, sepsis steering committee and a transgender focused committee working on education of medical providers.
That education includes working and teaching people about the pitfall of claiming gender dysphoria is a mental illness. One of my biggest frustrations in the medical world is the concept that mental and physical illnesses are distinct and separate. They are not. If mental illness is indeed distinct and separate, why do we then use medications, which affect the body, to treat the mind? Whenever I treat a stroke patient, not only are there physical impairments such as hemiplegia or facial droop, but personality changes as well? Autism is considered a psychiatric illness, but there are clearly familial ties, of which, my family and extended family are clear examples. What about schizophrenia or bipolar? Yep, there are genetic and physical/medical associations there, too. Same concept, why do we use medications to treat these conditions when they are supposedly all mental?
You are locking yourself into inductive bias which claims the simplest answer is the most correct. It's not. It follows the same notion that sex is simply to look at the genitals at birth and understand the complexity of the genetics that led there. For the vast majority of the world population, XX/XY --> female/male is true. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I'm not trying to break down this construct. However, you also need to understand that that equation is not always true. There are indeed XX/XY ---> male/female. There is also XXY, XO, XXYY, XXXYYY, XO/XY - females. Just looking briefly at a list of disorders of sexual development should make you realize there are tons of variations of how men and women clinically manifest. For example, I have the genetics of an intersex individual. Put simply, I have a mutation of FGFR1 which can lead to complete sex reversal. I wasn't born intersex, however. I also know someone personally who is XY - female who has the SOX9 gene completely reversed. These individuals at birth would be considered female and may or may not be considered intersex until puberty. What about the condition in the domincan republic called guevedoce? This is a mutation in 5-alpha reductase. basically, these individuals are born female and at the age of puberty transition to male, by no other outside forces. It occurs so frequently in the DR, 1 in 90 males, that it is part of the culture.
Before I conclude, I will add there are various reasons for someone to have gender dysphoria and it is not just limited to genetics. Genetics do play a role, but it isn't the only one. I very clearly see in medicine situations where gender dysphoria is a manifestation of abuse or anxiety. It is a coping mechanism for self-protection. We see very clearly, there are associations with autism. The theory behind this is people with autism are resistant to change and puberty is clearly significant change. There is also a peer pressure for some kids to have gender dysphoria as well. Consider the whole class in the south who all of a sudden claimed they had GD.
Gender affirmation care is not, and I repeat, is not just to lead children to surgery or hormones. It is a multidisciplinary approach to assisting parents and children find the best path forward. Sometimes all it takes is counseling. Maybe, in the midst of workup, we do find there are genetics associated with intersex conditions. These children will more likely be watched closer and considered for puberty suppression and later for surgery depending on how they grow and the decision of their parents in conjunction with the child. The goal is to perform the least invasive interventions on anyone. It has always been that way in medicine and will still continue that way.
Forgot to add, your confirmation bias is showing.
Facebook
Twitter