Transcipt: {{Introduction}}
Hey everyone! The information on this video requires that you have watched my previous video "Sex, Gender, and Transgender." Note: this is not exactly for people who are transgender, it's more to those who fight against them. You might still get some valuable information, but the tone might be off.
Now one of the reasons I started this channel is to promote personal growth. We all have our own issues and biases that we have to overcome. We have years of learning from our schooling years as well as from our parents growing up. Unfortunately, Some of this information is outdated or just plain false and we need to unlearn it.However, because this is the first information we got, we assume it is and will always be correct.
I know this is gonna be hard for some of you but we need to put our emotions aside for a minute. Once pluto was a planet, now it's not. Take a moment and do a body scan. How did you feel about that new information when you first heard it? Some of you will probably feel a little more confused, maybe even upset, than others. But overall, it wont affect your day.
Now, I'm going to tell you a fact, like a literal fact; one that shouldn't even be up to debate anymore. I want you to take your emotional temperature while hearing this:
Being transgender used to be considered a mental illness under the term Gender Identity Disorder. Now it is not. Yes, there is a diagnostic term called Gender Dysphoria, but it carries a distinct meaning with it and it does not mean all people who are transgender are mentally ill.
Okay, now take your emotional temperature and just look at it for a second. You might be pissed wanting to yell at me. That's fine. You can observe it for a second, but I'd appreciate for you to just put it aside for the rest of the video. And if you feel that way again, just look at it, and put it away. I just want a chance for you to listen.
{{Mental Illness}}
So why do I say it's a literal fact that being transgender isn't a mental illness? Well, the American Psychiatric Association's official diagnostic textbook, the DSM 5, does not have Gender Identity Disorder anymore. Also, more recently, the World Health Organization decided that it will no longer classify people who are transgender as mentally ill in it's diagnostic textbook. Keep in mind these are the people who define and do research on mental illness.
This is the Case: You cannot be factually correct if you call transgender people mentally ill solely on the fact that they are transgender, you are against the science and overall expert opinion. You can disagree and it's likely this video wont change your mind, but you can't say you disagree because of the facts.
It's more likely a cognitive bias and if i'm being charitable, unconscious prejudice. I'm not here to demonize you, but we are long past a productive discussion. There's a movement right now against science, depicting scientists as the elite. This movement doesn't trust the opinion of experts. I can kind of understand this, but at this point truth becomes relative or even meaningless. However, if you think there is some piece of information that could convince you, let me know and we can have a talk. I get that this stuff can be hard to understand so continue with me:
{{Why}}
Understandably, you might be asking "why was it a mental illness and now it's not?" Well, let's start with why it was:
Firstly, it has to do with our society's preference for heterosexual relationships and how we gender people in general. Men act like men, women act like women. Historically, if you acted outside of your role, you'd at the very least be considered weird. Depending on how outside your role you acted, you might even be ostracised.
The second has to do with a favorite talking point of anti-trans groups: There has been and still is a higher suicide rate among people who are transgender. According to the Williams Institute's study from 2014, the suicide rate for trans people is about 40%. If they disclose that they are transgender, the suicide rate goes up to about 50%, again, from this williams Institute study. 50%.
So if this is the case currently, why is being transgender no longer considered a mental illness?
Those statistics actually tell why. So the average suicide rate is 40% but goes up to 50 after someone discloses. I know for myself, that if I disclose something to someone, I usually feel better, not worse. So why the jump. Well, maybe, it's because after someone discloses they are transgender, it affects how those around them will treat them. In fact: it's definitely the case.
The Williams Institute Concluded that "experiences of harassment, discrimination, violence, and rejection may interact to produce a marked vulnerability to suicidal behavior in transgender and gender non-conforming people"
Even though the DSM 5 came out a year earlier than the Williams study, they concluded the same thing.Dr. Jack Drescher had this to say about his work on the DSM 5:
"[we were] asked to reconcile calls to remove the diagnosis from the DSM because of it's stigmatizing nature, similar to the removal of homosexuality...."
The World Health Organization's Lale Say, made a similar remark on the changes in the new ICD 11:
"So in order to reduce the stigma while also ensuring access to necessary health interventions, this was placed in a different chapter [of the ICD]"
Basically, stigma was causing this high suicide rate. It is how other people reject, harass, or blatantly discriminate against them.
{{Gender Dysphoria}}
So now there's this term "Gender Dysphoria" which a whole bunch of people wrongly cite as meaning that transgender people are mentally ill.
Some people feel discomfort between their psychological and emotional gender identity and their physical and biological sex because there is a mismatch. Sometimes it's not even their body, its the expected roles of their assigned gender. This is Gender Dysphoria.
Some people who are transgender do have this. However, many transgender people do not have a problem with the mismatch between their gender identity and their physical body. Unfortunately, other people may be uncomfortable with the mismatch and try to bully the transgender person into a specific gender role. This may bring about Gender Dysphoria.
{{Treatment}}
There is one other reason why gender dysphoria is in the DSM 5 and that is due to treatment and access to care.
"In order to access services, you need a diagnosis" A lot of times, insurance won't cover someone who doesn't have a diagnosis. So what would treatment look like?
Again, a lot of time issues surrounding transgender people are more focused on how others are treating them. Teens are often bullied by peers because they don't conform to gender roles. If they come out to their parents, parents may even kick them out.
Psychotherapy may involve interpersonal skills, family therapy, improving body image, enhancing social and peer support, and promoting resilience in the client.
Psychotherapy may have the client explore changing part time or full time into a gender role consistent with their identity.
The counselor and the client may also explore transition options such as hormone therapy or surgery. This is generally the case with clients who experience strong gender dysphoria. Usually, the dysphoria goes away after this kind of treatment. It should be noted that this can be explored for adolescents and children but with special considerations. In the Description i have a link for the Standards of Care set forth by WPATH that goes over these considerations.
{{Conclusion}}
That's it for this video. I hope you understand now that being transgender doesn't constitute a mental illness. If you have any honest questions, place them in the comments and I'll respond when I can. Again, I'm a cisgender dudeman, I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge and research.
Thanks for watching everyone. Do me a favor and have a good day!
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