Has anyone considered the impact on women's mental health?

Thanks for that.

Tip of the iceberg.

And that's 'admitted into psychiatric care' - so really very severe cases. Even in 1998 you had to be pretty bad to be admitted.

''It is estimated that some 100 women per year are delivered into psychiatric care as a direct result of their experiences.''
The Psychological Effect on Wives and Partners of Transsexuals, Diana Aitchison, co-ordinator, Women of the Beaumont Society Gendy Conference 1998.

https://archive.fo/FgPPu

https://millihill.substack.com/p/chimamanda-and-refusing-to-talk-about

A thoughtful post from Milli Hill.

Yes. I believe that those running rape crisis centres are now being trained to spout this line and way of thinking. Sadly, she isn't an outlier. A number of her friends are in this area and have similarly misogynistic views (esp the women, I'm afraid), and are generally extremely sneery about women who disagree, talk about fears of walking home late at night, want single sex spaces etc, erroneously claim we don't care about DV etc. They are all hardened TRAs (some trans themselves) and big fans of Judith Butler et al.

The whole area has been deliberately infiltrated with this bollocks. It is absolutely horrific and upsetting to listen to as they are very zealous. The gaslighting misogyny they spout and lack of empathy for other women makes me feel physically ill. And of course, in their self righteousness, are dealing with women who are very vulnerable.

We've had threads about this before OP. I think it was worse when it was the era of #nodebate, where we were getting banned from Twitter ( myself included)and and other places, for saying men were men, the media was hardly reporting it at all, women were getting arrested for tweets and violent men were assaulting women trying to hold talks about this. It's much more mainstream now, the Sandie Pennie case has had massive publicity and we've had a lot of success in the courts.

But yes I agree, it's hugely worrying and depressing that this is where we are as women in 2025. Women's rights across the world seem to be going backwards...

I'd add to any list of recommendations for 'literary therapy' (is that a thing?), a new book called 'The Vital Spark: Reclaim your Outlaw Energies and Find your Feminine Fire", by Jungian analyst, Lisa Marchiano.

You might have come across her on the Gender a Wider Lens podcast or at Genspect conferences.

I had followed and respected her for many years on the "This Jungian Life' podcast, and was so relieved to discover her also discussing transition and detransition through a Jungian lens.

I think she has written this book as a much needed, timely gift for all women- both the older ones fighting their 'be kind' social conditioning, and the younger ones feeling powerless and turning away from womanhood.

If you've ever read, and loved, 'Women who Run with the Wolves' by (Clarissa Pinkola Estes)- which I'd also recommend- you'll love this. And if you have any interest in the power of myth and fairy tale to tell universal truths (It's always struck me how many fairy tales are centred around female characters).

But just too, if all that's been happening has made you struggle with the conflict between how you feel, what you really believe, or k ow to be true, , and how you act.

Reading it doesn't make me feel angry or disempowered- absolutely the opposite. I have been craving something to read that makes me feel empowered - to find those things in myself that I have been witnessing so beautifully in all the women standing up that we discuss on here.

If I had a daughter, I would give it to her to read.

I am finding this particular book such an excellent antidote to the instability I've experienced like many on here, and wonderful food for the 'late onset feminist' beast that was awakened in me these last few years.

"Before there was Eve, there was Lilith" ...

What's not to love about a book that starts like that?

It's covered a little in 'Hounded' by Jenny Lindsay - she does a great job at analysing the harms caused to women by the gender movement.

The book is really clear and readable (although you'll probably be more angry once you've read it! )

I am reading "Unkind" by Victoria Smith and she really nails it.
Women are supposed to be the kind, the caring ones so just be a good girl and let the nice trans in your spaces.
Just another way to shut us down and keep controlling us.
Who cares if we spend our lives tying ourselves in knots to kep the peace!

It's definitely affected my mental health. I hate the second guessing that goes on daily. For example, in the gym today there was a man dressed in what might be interpreted as female attire (except no woman would dress so outlandishly to go to the gym) and could only stop worrying about him until I saw him enter the men's changing room.

And as for the madness that all the institutions and people outlined by @ArabellaScott earlier say that they believe (do they? can they? are they insane or am I?) how is it possible?

That women should 'reframe' our trauma was - and probably still is - the line held by Rape Crisis Scotland.

thecritic.co.uk/reframe-your-trauma/

Mind you, admit to any of this and the ready-made label of 'hysterical woman' awaits.

I'm fine. Totally fine.

The loss of faith in nearly every institution, government, much of the media, and huge chunks of the populace? Watching the NHS, Amnesty, Liberty, DofE, The Guardian, banks, academia, Science magazine, the police, the judiciary, the prison service, leading writers, artists, musicians, push dangerous narratives, or absurd mantras, gaslight, defame, attack and smear feminists?

Losing faith in frankly much of society and seeing the chasm of sexism as well as the enormous damage done to women by men since the dawn of history, and knowing that my daugher now faces this gauntlet in a climate where she will be condemned if she's not KIND enough about it all?

Yeah. It's not good.

They won't consider women's mental health until they accept that women have minds.

They don't care. They want women to put up and shut up. If that impacts women's mental health then so what?

I have a growing discomfort in moving through the world. Some of it is articulated in what's happening to Sandie Peggie.

Other sources are the ambient horror of Everard, Pelicot, the current wretchedness of the anaesthetist in France.

So many Police Forces seem to have abandoned all notion of policing by consent or an understanding of the social contract. Likewise the CS and the NHS.

So many safeguarding lapses tolerated in the name of supporting the patriarchy.

Nobody gives a shit about womens' mental health.

I actually know someone (a woman and TRA "ally") who believes that women should have therapy to "counsel" them to override their instincts on this, which she claims are "irrational".

I don't even know where to begin with such coercive, abusive, cult-like and misogynist bullshit.

She claims to be a feminist too...

Lol no of course not! Why would anyone bother to consider the impact on the support humans??

my mental health, like many here, has at times really really struggled with this. Just knowing that men and women happily signed away women’s rights without a second thought because a tiny amount of men would be sad if they didn’t get what they demanded shook my confidence in public institutions and private bodies to the core. The fact that so many supposedly intelligent people are prepared to straight up lie and be clown themselves about something so basic is fucking terrifying.

Completely agree with all of this, but then, when was women’s mental health EVER prioritised?

If it had been, we wouldn’t have ended up with the society we have. With most women doing the second shift and STILL behind men in pay and opportunities.

The whole thing’s a fucking scandal. The trans bullshit is the bridge too far, though.

So OP, no, women’s mental health hasn’t been considered in this and won’t be. They’ll just shout ‘bigot’ and expect that to cow us into submission once again.

As someone who has gone through mental and emotional and other intimate partner abuse, I do find the distorting of reality and the treading on eggshells really stressful (triggering even, to use genz speak).

I work in HE. I have lots of trans students. I often slip up with the pronouns. I find it really hard. I also don't want to share toilets with male bodied students. Not because I fear them but for my own dignity and frankly hygiene standards. I hate the assumption at work that everyone is on board with pronouns and sharing our spaces and so on. I hate that I can't be myself or speak my mind. It is psychologically stressful.

The problem trans Beaumont Society at one point were saying that they'd been some sort of survey / research on the partners of men who transitioned.

It came up with a astronomical rate of them having a psychological breakdown.

When I saw this, my jaw hit the floor. This was dated mid 90s I think and even in the years since I saw it referenced (a few years back), I've struggled to find it again. All information on it seems to have disappeared.

It was referenced and sourced on MN so if you can find it on here please do so and let me know where it is.

Since seeing that, I have had big question marks over the impact on family members.

We know that the patterns for trans widows look very similar to coercive control and we know that mental health problems are related to coercive control and emotional abuse.

We also know identity formation issues are related to mental health issues.

I have been saying for some time that since we know these things we really should be looking at the mental health impact on various other groups APART from trans.

Everything is so obsessed with trans that everyone else in the world, is forgotten. And to hell with the consequences. That's so fucked up.

I've been sexually assaulted in a female changing room by a biological male presenting as a woman.

I get annoyed when people tell me I have to "be kind" and "be inclusive" of people with penises who want to be in female safe spaces.

If a man walked into a female space, it would be a natural reaction to be scared. Somehow we've got to turn these gut reactions off and be accepting of biological men who claim they are women in our spaces.

The safety of women and children should be a much higher priority than validating the feelings of men who think they are women.

It’s institutionalised gaslighting, with the state acting as a coercive and malicious partner towards women.

Of course it’s bad for our mental health, as we either submit to the gaslighting and feel worthless or rebel and are judged, punished and shunned.