That article is a complete disgrace.
The usual suicide narrative:
“For many transmasculine people, it’s binding or suicide,” 17-year-old Raphael Sanche told The New York Times.
Lengthy quotes from Dr Sarah Peitzmeier, who conveniently omits research that contradicts her. She emphasises that girls whose parents won't buy them binders have to resort to home-made solutions, calling them less-safe practices. But research shows that commercial binders, also euphemistically called medical binders by another interviewee, implying that there are safe methods of breast binding. There are no safe methods. Take that large survey by a pro-binding organisation: it showed that 97% reported negative side effects, over half reported two negative side effects, about half reported at least one serious side effect. The survey includes those using commercial binders and it includes those who had only been binding for short periods at the time of the survey.
And yet Dr Peitzmeier claims
“More severe symptoms from binding are rare, typically take many years to develop and are not inherent to the practice, but instead are significantly exacerbated by lack of information, lack of social support and lack of access to gender-affirming health care experienced by many transgender and nonbinary people.”
This is demonstrably untrue. The damage is inherent to the practice. How could it not be? You're crushing a body part every day, typically for 12 hours or more, for months if not years. Negative health outcomes, including worse surgery outcomes for those moving onto mastectomies, are unfortunately possible within weeks.
As for
Research and anecdotal accounts report that binding reduces anxiety and depression.
This is another unsubstantiated claim. It temporarily reduces both. It does not permanently affect either, because binding is not a treatment for depression and anxiety.
And
Most medical professionals state that the psychological benefits of binding outweigh the risks, which may include chest or back pain, overheating, rashes, and shortness of breath.
That's a bold statement presented wholly without evidence. I'd like to see some sources supporting that claim. Both that most medical professionals believe this, and research confirming that the psychological benefits outweigh the physiological risks.
Now it's clear that those who bind believe it to be true, but that cannot replace a thorough, evidence-based risk-benefit analysis.
In my view, her last quote demonstrates how clueless she really is:
Dr Peitzmeier suggests that those who bind “articulate your goals or motivations for binding and bind just enough to achieve those goals”.
This is a vulnerable patient group, involving a great number of minors, who are engaging in a self-harming practice. Can you imagine any doctor saying this to someone cutting or starving themselves?