A study conducted in Finland revealed that transsexual adolescents who underwent gender reassignment surgery or hormonal treatments showed a significant increase in mental health problems.
Between 1996 and 2019, the research followed more than 2000 people under 23 years of age who received gender reassignment treatment, allowing us to analyze the evolution of their mental health over time.
The study found that young adults who requested these treatments were significantly more likely to have mental health problems than their peers who did not undergo the treatments, both before and after referral to specialized services.
Transsexual person.
In addition, the results indicated that those who received treatment after 2010 had more serious mental health problems compared to those who had been treated in previous periods, both before and after the
transition process.
The report also noted that, starting in 2010, mental health problems were more likely to manifest as concerns related to gender identity, marking a change in the way these conditions present themselves in younger patients.
In concrete terms, feminizing treatments registered an increase from 9.8% to 60.7% in the prevalence of mental health problems, representing an increase of more than 50%. On the other hand, masculinizing treatments showed an increase from 21.6% to 54.5%, equivalent to an increase of more than 30%
. Transsexual person.
These data reflect a significant growth in the need for mental health care among adolescents with gender dysphoria who underwent this type of medical intervention, both
surgical and hormonal.
In addition, the results showed that mental health difficulties were not only present before treatments, but that they persisted and even increased after interventions, which is part of the main findings of the research.
Finally, the study concluded that psychiatric evaluations for adolescents should be comprehensive before initiating gender reassignment treatments, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive and detailed approach in each case.
