This is a great summary of the current understanding of the relation between suicide and medicalizing a gender identity (or rather, the lack of relation...). Thank you!
Some questions could also be asked about the direction of causality in any suicide-transgender link. If people are suicidal for one reason or another, a possible effect, or you might say release, is harming themselves in some way such as transgender surgery.
Yes, Jim. Little is known about this. The most robust long-term study, in Sweden, found that people after medical transition had suicide rates much higher than the general population. This study can't show causation, but it's worrying.
What follows is from the 2022 Levine et al paper mentioned in my post:
"Alarmingly, a longitudinal study from Sweden that covered more than a 30-year span found that adults who underwent surgical transition were 19 times more likely than their age-matched peers to die by suicide overall, with female-to-male participants’ risk 40 times the expected rate (Dhejne et al., 2011, Table S1). Another key longitudinal study from the Netherlands concluded that suicides occur at a similar rate at all stages of transition, from pretreatment assessment to post-transition follow-up (Wiepjes et al., 2020). The data from the Tavistock clinic also did not show a statistically significant difference between completed suicides in the “waitlist” vs. the “treated” groups (Biggs, 2022). Luckily, in both groups, completed suicides were rare events (which may have been responsible for the lack of statistical significance). Thus, we consider the “transition or die” narrative to be misinformed and ethically wrong."
We have media guidelines around the reporting of suicide due to the known contagion effects of media coverage and yet there seems to be absolutely no recognition or acknowledgment that the constant representation of this in the gender issues space could be driving numbers up in a similar fashion. It is very irresponsible.
Despite an extensive search I am unable to identify a single case of suicide occuring in Australia as a result of a gender-identity issue.
It is well documented that there exists a relatively high rate of self-harm by those with 'gender issues'. It is also clear that the same cohort have a high rate of mental health issues.
Persons who self harm for any reason have a higher rate of mental health issues than do the general population,
Ergo self harm in the 'gender' cohort would not be unexpected.
This is a great summary of the current understanding of the relation between suicide and medicalizing a gender identity (or rather, the lack of relation...). Thank you!
Some questions could also be asked about the direction of causality in any suicide-transgender link. If people are suicidal for one reason or another, a possible effect, or you might say release, is harming themselves in some way such as transgender surgery.
Yes, Jim. Little is known about this. The most robust long-term study, in Sweden, found that people after medical transition had suicide rates much higher than the general population. This study can't show causation, but it's worrying.
What follows is from the 2022 Levine et al paper mentioned in my post:
"Alarmingly, a longitudinal study from Sweden that covered more than a 30-year span found that adults who underwent surgical transition were 19 times more likely than their age-matched peers to die by suicide overall, with female-to-male participants’ risk 40 times the expected rate (Dhejne et al., 2011, Table S1). Another key longitudinal study from the Netherlands concluded that suicides occur at a similar rate at all stages of transition, from pretreatment assessment to post-transition follow-up (Wiepjes et al., 2020). The data from the Tavistock clinic also did not show a statistically significant difference between completed suicides in the “waitlist” vs. the “treated” groups (Biggs, 2022). Luckily, in both groups, completed suicides were rare events (which may have been responsible for the lack of statistical significance). Thus, we consider the “transition or die” narrative to be misinformed and ethically wrong."
Scary figures.
We have media guidelines around the reporting of suicide due to the known contagion effects of media coverage and yet there seems to be absolutely no recognition or acknowledgment that the constant representation of this in the gender issues space could be driving numbers up in a similar fashion. It is very irresponsible.
It is puzzling why mental health professionals don’t point this out.
Or they do and no one listens…
If they do point it out, it’s behind the scenes.
Vincent Keane
Despite an extensive search I am unable to identify a single case of suicide occuring in Australia as a result of a gender-identity issue.
It is well documented that there exists a relatively high rate of self-harm by those with 'gender issues'. It is also clear that the same cohort have a high rate of mental health issues.
Persons who self harm for any reason have a higher rate of mental health issues than do the general population,
Ergo self harm in the 'gender' cohort would not be unexpected.
Hello Vincent,
It would be useful to know how suicide data is coded & recorded.
There is a study of suicide rates at the Tavistock clinic.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-022-02287-7