Gender dysphoria patients experienced ‘heightened psychological distress’ two years after surgery
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So-called “gender-affirming surgery” could lead to potentially dangerous mental health effects, a new study has found.
Transgender individuals face “heightened psychological distress,” including depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation, “partly due to stigma and lack of gender affirmation,” as stated in the study, which was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Researchers from the University of Texas set out to determine the mental health impacts from transgender people who underwent “gender-affirming surgery.”
The study focused on 107,583 patients 18 and over with gender dysphoria, some who underwent surgery and others who did not.
They determined rates of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and substance-use disorders were “significantly higher” among those who underwent surgery, assessed two years later.
Males with surgery had depression rates of 25% compared to males without surgery (11.5%). Anxiety rates among that group were 12.8% compared to 2.6%.
The same differences were seen among females, as those with surgery had 22.9% depression rates compared to 14.6% in the non-surgical group.
Females who underwent surgery also had anxiety rates of 10.5% compared to 7.1% without surgery.
Surgeries that aimed to “feminize individuals” showed “particularly high” rates of depression and substance abuse two years after the procedures, the study found.
“Findings suggest the necessity for gender-sensitive mental health support following gender-affirming surgery to address post-surgical psychological risks,” the researchers wrote.
By Melissa Rudy
