Correction of a Key Study: No evidence of “gender-affirming” surgeries or hormones Improving mental health

[FindTheTruth]

The original study by Yale University - Bränström & Pachankis (2019), analysed the health records of 2,679 Swedes diagnosed with gender dysphoria over 10 years - 2005 and 2015. They wanted to see whether hormonal or surgical treatments improved mental health over time. [ it sounds like they were analysing medical records data ... ].

The Study was published in American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) 4 Oct 2019. It was reported by Pink News 15 Oct 2019, quoting co-author John Pachankis (associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health) who said: “No longer can we say that we lack high-quality evidence of the benefits of providing gender-affirming surgeries to transgender individuals who seek them”

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED ....

Researchers and scientists pointed out the study's methodological problems and challenged the conclusion. This included people from the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM), an international group of over 100 clinicians and researchers who JKR linked to in her Aug 2020 statement.

In response, the AJP editor requested an independent statistical review of the data, which led to a reanalysis of the data and an official correction.

After the re-analysis (2020), which may be interpreted in a number of ways, the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM) did a write up here: segm.org/ajp_correction_2020

Graphs in the SEGM write up, include 'hospitalisations following a suicide attempt':

• 13 (1.3%) in the 'surgery' group
• 7 (0.7%) in the 'no surgery' group

SEGM concluded:

• The mental health needs of people suffering from gender dysphoria are significantly greater than those of the general population, which confirms previous research

• No mental health benefit of hormonal interventions was demonstrated

• No mental health benefit of "gender-affirming" surgery was demonstrated

• Specific to the question of longitudinal association between time from surgery and mental health outcomes, due to unaddressed study design limitations, no improvement of mental health with time after surgery was demonstrated

• Despite the higher rate of suicide attempts requiring hospitalization in the "surgery" group, the study design precludes the assertion that that "gender-affirming" surgery is harmful

THERE'S HOPE....
Getting quality evidence and challenging bad evidence is on the increase. I'm so glad to see more grassroots science based initiatives starting. A space to watch.

The veil is being pulled away, but I wish the process could be speeded up. Watching as transitioning rates continue to increase despite the ever-rising evidence of harm is horrible. And, of course, everyone who pays into the NHS will be funding all the lawsuits that have already begun. This movement is despicable. Its fall from grace is long overdue.

gender dysphoria and ROGD are responses to trauma created by a society hostile to difference

This just stuck me as the core of what our concerns should be and such a compassionate take. Exactly how I feel.

Am I right that Prof Susan Bewley is part of SEGM? She tweeted about them a while ago, I think.

She's a wonderful woman.

I suspect its not just children and adolescents but vulnerable adults who are falling prey to the idea that switching gender is some sort of cure-all.

A former neighbour was a member of London's hard partying gay scene for twenty or so years, till he needed to bail out to preserve what was left of his physical and mental health. He knew too many casualties, including three friends who had become very vulnerable indeed and who each came to the sudden conclusion that their problems stemmed from the fact that they were born in the wrong bodies. Stonewall, Pink News and the other traditional supports of the gay community were all effectively touting the idea that living as a woman was some miraculous cure all for mental distress. When actually accepting yourself as a proud gay man, and limiting the drugs might work better. He did not understand all this LGBQT+++ stuff and felt that Stonewall had abandoned him and other gays.

Hormones and surgery should not be the first port of call for vulnerable people. Other things need to be ruled out before any gender dysphoria diagnosis is made. The treatment is too extreme and too irreversible. The risk of regret has to be significant.

needmoresleep I’m seeing the same thing happening in some lesbian communities. A number of older butch lesbians I know, women who really were subject to the worst kinds of abuse and prejudice in their younger years because of their sexuality and their presentation, have recently bought into the idea that they are actually trans and transitioning will solve everything for them. Most stop at mastectomy and hormones (no bottom surgery), but see presenting and passing as male the key to escaping past oppressions and finding acceptance in wider society. The added bonus is that they instantly become relevant and revered within their queer communities, whereas as older butch women they‘d been dismissed and ignored.

gender dysphoria and ROGD are responses to trauma created by a society hostile to difference

100% this ^

Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine (SEGM): Our aim is to promote safe, compassionate, ethical and evidence-informed healthcare for children, adolescents, and young adults with gender dysphoria.

segm.org/
twitter.com/SEGMtweets

gender dysphoria and ROGD are responses to trauma created by a society hostile to difference

I am going to quote this, left right and centre.