Are there identifiable causes for being trans?

Rowantrees Reading your rather overlong posts clearly indicates you understand nothing of the transsexual condition

April 2018 Important extended La Scapigliata article,
"It is not “woman”, but “transgender”, that is a truly elusive term, and how this relates to the statistics of trans youth suicide"

(extract)
Evidence suggests that mental illness, and especially depression, anxiety, bipolar and dissociative disorder, is present in 70%] of individuals with gender dysphoria, either concurrently or at some time during their lifetime. Which brings me to another way by which suicidality in trans youth can be misinterpreted – by diagnosing them incorrectly.

In psychiatry, there exists a hierarchy of diagnoses.

IMG_1609 (see screenshot)

I’d also like to mention psychiatric symptom of ambivalence, which is particularly distressing when it involves one’s own body, sex, gender or sexuality. This ambivalence is not just wondering whether one might be attracted to the opposite sex as the normal stage in sexual development. This is ambivalence that arises from disordered thinking which characterises severe mental illness.

That a lot of mental illnesses tend to develop in youth, and are often accompanied by suicidal ideation and even attempts, illustrates the pitfall with trying to attribute suicidality to “being trans”. Mental illness doesn’t “co-occur” with transgenderism, in fact, symptoms which, in isolation, might justify someone’s inclusion under transgender umbrella, in context of mental illness higher up in the hierarchy, are more likely just symptoms of that illness.

This is important because if the person with mental illness is misdiagnosed as “trans”, and instead of being given treatment for mental illness is fast-tracked down the path of gender transition, it can severely impact their life.

There is a great book written by Walter Heyer , who himself detransitioned (male-to-female-back to male), that talks about this issue, as well as this survey of female detransitioners.

I’ve looked after a few trans patients who were admitted to the psychiatric ward on 1:1 suicide watch, due to repeated and relentless suicide attempts following gender reassignment surgery. Most of them had history of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. What stays with me after all these years is that they were some of the most distressed patients I have ever seen. Their distress wasn’t only in realising that gender reassignment didn’t cure their troubling feelings, but in the fact that they now had to live with their bodies being mutilated irreversibly. It goes without saying that severe psychological distress doesn’t lend itself to the kind of self-care most of these procedures require post-op, which can lead to increased complications which further impact on the patient’s life in an iatrogenic (doctor-caused) vicious cycle that could’ve been avoided

These patients, and many others who suffer worsening physical and metal health following gender transition, are currently swiped under the rug, silenced like gender-critical people, and institutions are obstructing research into phenomenon of detransition, under the same accusations of heresy against trans ideology." (continues)

lascapigliata8.wordpress.com/2018/04/10/it-is-not-woman-but-transgender-that-is-a-truly-elusive-term-and-how-this-relates-to-the-statistics-of-trans-youth-suicide/

About the author,
"Writer, doctor, feminist. Wearer of many hats."

And could overstretched and frazzled social workers etc just not have the time to do the complex and exhausting work it must take to get to the bottom of a story? To find out what lies beneath?

Affirmation without question must be an easier option - no coaching, counselling, listening skills, research, guidance etc required. Just the skill to say 'yes, dear. Here's a binder catalogue.'

Maybe you missed the issues caused by policies & guidance lobbied by TRAs in Social Care? Same as NHS, Prisons, Education, civil service.
There is a Memorandum of Understanding still in place which also impacts.

Additionally, social care workers, foster carers etc may have been required to follow affirmation approach.
In UK, toolkits & resources for both the children & adults have been created by TRAs:

thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3324578-Vunerabilities-of-Looked-After-Children-Social-Work-CP-restricted-by-affirmation-requirement-Trans-Youth-in-Care-Toolkit

Anecdotally, (through contact with Paremts of trans kids over there) adopted children are overrepresented in gender clinics in the US. That would correspond to the poor attachment issues in that paper.

Children who have been taken into care are especially vulnerable for a number of reasons including possible abuse / attachment / trauma, also as they are isolated it may be that some are more prone to online contagion/influence/grooming etc

Anecdotally, (through contact with Paremts of trans kids over there) adopted children are overrepresented in gender clinics in the US. That would correspond to the poor attachment issues in that paper.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Front. Psychol., 01 February 2018

'Attachment Patterns and Complex Trauma in a Sample of Adults Diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria'
(extract)
Although it has been proven that the psychological wellbeing of gender diverse persons is largely mediated by family acceptance and support, research on their relationships with parental figures is scarce. A total of 95 adults took part in the study. The attachment distribution was as follows: 27% secure, 27% insecure and 46% disorganized. Regarding early traumas, 56% experienced four or more traumatic forms. Further, gender dysphoric adults showed significantly higher levels of attachment disorganization and polyvictimisation, relative to controls. Comparisons of subgroups, defined by natal gender, showed that trans women, compared to control males, had more involving and physically and psychologically abusive fathers, and were more often separated from their mothers; trans men, relative to female controls, had more involving mothers and were more frequently separated from and neglected by their fathers. The research has several implications for treatment, clinical health psychology, family support and education." (continues)
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00060/full

Thought

I fear another one - Munchausen’s by proxy.

I have though that but didn't dare say it.

It surely is a mental health issue..

I think that.

And nobody wants to be (or even appear to be) mean spirited towards a sufferer.

Derren Brown screens candidates for his subjects. Some people are much more suggestible than others, some more resilient to manipulation.

There was a great programme on r4 last week about hypnosis which confirmed this. There is so much that we don't really know about the mind, I think.

I have seen absolutely nothing in my friend's life to support this.

As I said previously, I am not commenting on your friend however surely you acknowlege how frequently this would be said by close friends & family of many people who have been subject to familial abuse?

Its a very common feature.

I find anyone's assertion in their belief that another was not/could not have been abused extraordinary

It was in response to this

All the evidence I have seen supports homophobic/abusive families

I have seen absolutely nothing in my friend's life to support this.

I agree with nearly all the points. It's complex and it's affected by a plethora of things.

Makes me so sad. I just think it's all the rage right now, just like a pp said being bi was. A lot of Girls in ds1's year have anxiety, camhs, self harming, bi, gay, a few trans.

It sort of feels like they, not all, but some, being normal isn't enough, they need something else, extreme to cling on to. Which seems such a shame.

I have known him all his life. One can never be 100% sure what goes on behind closed doors but I don't believe for one minute he was abused as a child.

As a general point (not specific to your friend), I find anyone's assertion in their belief that another was not/could not have been abused extraordinary.

Its worth reading this incredibly powerful & moving interview with a woman whose complex PTSD & childhood sexual abuse was not identified until she was in her 50's (having mistakenly gone through medical & surgical 'transition')
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6351711/Hemel-Hempstead-transgender-man-60-regrets-gender-reassignment-surgery-11-years-on.html

There is a need to understand better complex PTSD/complex trauma responses.

Not that I'm aware of. So far as not "presenting as a woman" before transitioning she wore jeans , t- shirts and sneakers most of the time but definitely not a butch Lea Delaria vibe. She was , and this is going to sound disparaging but isn't meant to, an averagely pretty girl and young woman.

Do you know if your friend had/has social or body dysphoria, Lass? I think also that even if your friends family modelled at home that being GNC is ok (good even!) your friend will still have received an enormous number of messages from peers and the media that the way they presented themselves wasn't normal "for a woman". My mum always let me dress how I wanted, do what I wanted etc, she never shaved or wore makeup or "performed femininity" in any way, and never promoted any food issues or anything, but that didn't stop me developing an eating disorder in my teens as a result of having airbrushed size zeros pushed on me by every media source as the ideal beauty standard. I had excellent role models and plenty of friends in all shapes and sizes but my ED was still very much socially induced.

The only trans person I know in real life is ftm. He was always , as posters here would say, "gender non- conforming" in appearance from the earliest age he had any say in the matter and his parents had no problem with this. His mother was a big fan of things like Pink Stinks" and isn't particularly feminine herself.

His family have several gay friends and their children always knew these friends were gay. His sister is a lesbian. He , prior to transitioning aged 25, was heterosexual. Post transition he is still attracted to men (I don't know how that will work out in practice)

I have known him all his life. One can never be 100% sure what goes on behind closed doors but I don't believe for one minute he was abused as a child. Homophobia or enforcing stereotypes doesn't enter into it at all.

?????

.., homophobia, abuse/trauma, AGP, social contagion etc
all have been raised on the thread as potentially significant.

The slide has some glaring ommissions in terms of possible contributory factors

?????

Maybe some of those omissions are not relevant as the slide relates to children. Although I also suspect that some of the contributory factors we see in adulthood may be the result of childhood gendered expectations.

Surely it agrees that GD is caused by the social problem of gendered expectations?

The slide has some glaring ommissions in terms of possible contributory factors.

The root of the issue, however, is inappropriate medicalisation of a social problem

Mermaids just tweeted this slide from a presentation by Joanne Olsen-Kennedy (all the trans parents seem to love her) at the epath conference. Surely it agrees that GD is caused by the social problem of gendered expectations?

Doesn't it also point to parents being 100% responsible for very young children being GD as parents have the power to be in complete control of a child's social environment.