Transgender and eating disorders

[Imnobody4]

Just found this summary of research by Beth Jones. Is it me or is there a subtle suggestion that transitioning cures eating disorders in the same way it cures autism?
Researchers at Loughborough and Nottingham universities found that cross-sex hormone therapy (CHT) reduced the feelings of body dissatisfaction associated with eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, in transgender people
The research was part of Beth Jones’ PhD, and recommended that clinicians working at eating disorder services should assess patients for gender identity issues and refer them to transgender health services to be evaluated for hormone treatment
www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/news/2018/january/hormone-therapy-for-transgender-eating-disorders/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=lbororesearch

I would like to comment, alas my comments were deleted on another thread.

I did point out that as a dyslexic I was given tools to live with my linguistic weakness.

I made suggestions and observations about intelligence, I will let you link up things yourself or I will be banned.

Well, that article was badly-written crap.

It conflates sex and gender, refers to people being "assigned" a gender at birth, uses the term "cis" and states a misleading - and erroneous conclusion - in the third paragraph.

Wrong thread, Cheer. You should ask for your post to be withdrawn.

No where does it mention the correlation between autism and eating disorders. Stop experimenting on autistic people who of course don't fit in with gender norms. I'm really bloody annoyed and fed up of the bullshit.

Interesting reading Imnobody4, thanks for sharing.

It's a shame that the study doesn't refer to sex differences in these behaviours, just refers to 'trans people'.

I'd be happy to be proved wrong in my expectation that doing so may shed some additional light on what's going on. But why won't researchers separate out the two sexes in this research?

I expect many people on this site (aka women with lived experience of navigating puberty) would read that summary and understand exactly what it's likely to be demonstrating :-

Young transgender people may restrict their food as a way to control their puberty, stop their periods or reduce the development of breasts. Erm, so, mostly female puberty development?

the research suggested that for some transgender people, striving to achieve a masculine or feminine body shape can influence their eating behaviours, while in the case of transgender males (assigned female at birth but who identify as male) who are not on hormone treatment some may even restrict what they eat as a way of stopping menstruation. Erm, so again, mostly female puberty development? Nothing there about stopping male puberty markers.

So the research shows that using drugs to halt the natural puberty development of these trans 'people' (aka mainly girls then?) made them feel better because their bodies stopped developing in the ways they were fearing.

Just like anorexia behaviours can halt development in ways that can make girls feel 'better' and more in control too?

Oh, but maybe it's specific to the trans population: -
Within the non-trans population, negative emotions such as anxiety and depression and low self-esteem fuel the relationship between body dissatisfaction and problems with eating behaviours.

Or maybe some of the girls in the study have found 'trans' as an articulation for their body dissatisfaction, which suddenly elevates them out of just being standard 'non-trans body dissatisfaction' issues?

How is it possible not to make this obvious connection? Unless you're on determined track to separate these connections?

Has someone actually claimed that autism can be cured by cross-sex hormones? I feel like I would have noticed that.

I’m waiting for someone to suggest that transitioning cures cancer. FFS! Sorry if I’ve offended people, I’m just thinking of the shit I got when my husband was ill.

I can play this game too.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5682639/

Let me think 🤔 Having an eating disorder is caused by being in the wrong sexed body or dye to society pressuring girls to look a certain way. I think the feminists win that one.

Dye = due

Thanks for sharing, OP. This is one of the oddest things I've read in a long time. I see so many parallels between body dysmorphia & eating disorders and gender dysphoria that I am quite bewildered by how the two are treated so differently in psychiatry.

The article states body dissatisfaction, alongside other factors, has been found the be risk factor for eating disorder psychopathology within the general population and we wanted to determine whether this was the case within the treatment seeking transgender population

Well talk about looking for the obvious. Those with eating disorders have body dissatisfaction, those with gender dysphoria have body dissatisfaction, you'd think that those with both an eating disorder and gender dysphoria might have body bloody dissatisfaction.

We found high levels of body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, anxiety symptoms and low self-esteem were risk factors....transgender people

Just like everyone else with an eating disorder then...

cross sex hormones appear to be able to alleviate eating disorder psychopathology

FFS of course they will. The anorexic brain thinking their body is wrong is having that affirmed and being given a magic bullet. It won't be a magic bullet long term, will it, because the patient will realise that it's not their body that is wrong. It's just like losing weight alleviates eating disorder psychopathology.

transgender males...who are not on hormone treatment some may even restrict what they eat as a way of stopping menstruation

Just like many female anorexics disgusted by their body - its functions as well as its appearance.

Gosh am so cross that's all barely coherent. I went through eating disorder treatment in 2015/16 and again in 2017. There were no questions around gender identity in 2015/16 but they were all over the discharge stuff in 2017. There are young people being failed in their therapy, being told that yes their bodies are wrong, as long as they choose the right kind of wrong. I am too upset to even contemplate how badly it will go for these adolescents.

As a gender non conforming ex anorexic I find this greatly disturbing.
I can't articulate what exactly it is because I'm finding it so disturbing that my mind keeps shying away from analysis...

Jesus. Christ

What Sweary said.

I was ill for approx 12 years. I would have jumped at anything

Has someone actually claimed that autism can be cured by cross-sex hormones?

Yes. GIRES said that anecdotally ASD trais disappeared after transitioning.

About the autism connection it has been suggested by someone maybe Mermaids, can't remember who, but they claimed transitioning helped autism. It was in connection with high rate of autistic girls presenting as trans. It just seems like cross sex hormones are becoming a cure all for any issue we don't know the answer for.

Imnobody4 - I would wager that their idea of "curing autism" is "tomboy crisis averted, transboy is hewing to masculine stereotypes". I have no basis for this comment except life experience and cynicism though.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine my comment above in response to you also.

Transgenderism is the cure for all ills. It cures autism, eating disorders, rabies, bubonic plague, and being hit by lightning.

Arise, take up thy bed, put on thy stilettos and walk.

SwearyG you summarised it so much better than me:

There are young people being failed in their therapy, being told that yes their bodies are wrong, as long as they choose the right kind of wrong

Fuck off ttfsofo with curing autism. They've no idea.

Has someone actually claimed that autism can be cured by cross-sex hormones? I feel like I would have noticed that.

GIRES claims that transition has been associated with the remission of autism, symptoms of ASD etc. I'm having to give a Twitter source with screenshots for this because GenderTrender has been banned by Wordpress (and that's the place she meant).

The symptoms have disappeared once the dysphoria has been treated.

twitter.com/ThrupennyBit/status/1044253173597261824

The full page 7 quotation from which the above is taken is:

Anecdotally, young people who have been successfully treated, are often described as having no residual ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder]. The symptoms have disappeared once the dysphoria has been treated.

I see so many parallels between body dysmorphia & eating disorders and gender dysphoria that I am quite bewildered by how the two are treated so differently in psychiatry.

Isn't it nothing more than the risk of death involved? Anorexia is treated very seriously because it has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. I'm not sure of the precise figures but I've heard that something like 10% of anorexics die of it.

Medical transition may render you sterile etc. But that isn't death. Doctors are pragmatists.

Isn't it nothing more than the risk of death involved?

I hope not. Whilst eating disorders do have the highest death risk of all MH disorders (and iirc most deaths are by suicide, not starvation) I would hope that they’re treated with therapy due to the delusion or the mind/body disconnect as opposed to the risk of death. Much in the same way that other MH conditions where there is a disconnect with the body (for example where someone wishes to amputate a healthy limb) are treated with therapy rather than surgery. We could argue that surgically making someone disabled isn’t death so should be allowed, doctors being pragmatists