Undergoing so-called “gender-affirming” surgery is associated with higher risk of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, substance use, and other mental health issues, according to a newly published study at the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
The national database study of matched cohorts from 107,583 patients found that “those undergoing surgery were at significantly higher risk for depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and substance use disorders than those without surgery,” concluded Texas-based researchers Joshua E. Lewis, et al.
Results of the data analysis showed that males undergoing transgender surgeries “showed a higher prevalence of depression (25.4% vs. 11.5%, RR 2.203, P < 0.0001) and anxiety (12.8% vs. 2.6%, RR 4.882, P < 0.0001).”
Females “also exhibited elevated depression (22.9% vs. 14.6%, RR 1.563, P < 0.0001) and anxiety (10.5% vs. 7.1%, RR 1.478, P < 0.0001),” the study found.
Males undergoing “feminizing” surgeries “demonstrated particularly high risk for depression (RR 1.783, P = 0.0298) and substance use disorders (RR 1.284, P < 0.0001).”
Despite such sobering outcomes, however, Lewis et al concluded that so-called “gender-affirming surgery” is still “beneficial in affirming gender identity.” Those who undergo transgender surgeries, they recommend, will require “ongoing, gender-sensitive mental health support for transgender individuals’ post-surgery.”
The prospect of such intensive psychological treatment for post-surgery severe depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, however, would not only appear to negate whatever benefit is realized from gender “affirmation,” but also prove to be a lengthy and costly undertaking.
Colin Wright, CEO of Reality’s Last Stand, observed as well on X that “rather than questioning the medical legitimacy of performing ‘gender-affirming’ surgeries given the significantly worse mental health outcomes among recipients, the authors instead suggest that these individuals simply require more post-surgical ‘gender-sensitive mental health support.’”
The researchers’ disconnected concluding statements appear to underscore the unwillingness of academia and scientific journals to abandon gender ideology – extensively promoted by the Biden-Harris administration and its frontline top health official Rachel (born Richard) Levine – a man who calls himself a woman.
In June 2023, Levine called for a celebratory “summer of pride” during which he propped up “gender-affirming care” for children and teens, referring to it as “mental health care” and “suicide prevention care.”
A year later, court documents revealed that Levine had pressured the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) to remove recommended age minimums for gender hormone drugs and surgeries from its draft guidelines to promote the Biden administration’s pro-trans political agenda.
But that didn’t stop the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) from featuring Levine as a keynote speaker at its national conference in September.
During his address, the Biden Health and Human Services official condemned states that have passed laws protecting children and teens from experimental and body-mutilating drugs and surgeries, accusing them of engaging in “hatred and discrimination.”
Apparently, gender ideology must be protected at all costs from the truth – as was seen again in October when the New York Times reported that prominent gender industry doctor Johanna Olson-Kennedy revealed she was withholding the results of her National Institutes of Health-funded study.
Olson-Kennedy was ultimately granted $9.7 million in taxpayer funds for a study she expected would support her hypothesis that puberty blockers were effective in treating mental health issues related to gender dysphoria. She told the Times she was withholding her negative results for fear they would be “weaponized” and used in lawsuits.
Subsequently, a young woman who is now a “detransitioner” filed a lawsuit against Olson-Kennedy and others for allegedly encouraging her, when she was only 12 years old, to undergo “gender-affirming treatment,” including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and an elective double mastectomy.
Despite continued resistance from academia and establishment scientific journals against confronting gender ideology as an anti-science political agenda, a Pew Research Center survey published last week found 56% of U.S. adults favor laws protecting children from “gender transition” medical interventions.
