In today’s time, the term transgender is most often used by those people who feel comfortable in a gender to which they were not assigned at birth. To refer to people with a different gender identity perception other than birth and people in a similar vein, the acronym LGBTQQI is used, which refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex people. It is an inclusive term used by queer and gender-nonconforming communities and their allies and is meant to embrace as many under the umbrella as possible and not let transgender children feel left out.
In 1973, the APA removed homosexuality from its DSM of Mental Disorders; it was no longer considered a mental health issue. But it wouldn’t be until the 2013 publication of the fifth revision of the DSM that Gender Identity Disorder (GID), a condition once assumed of all transgender people, was removed as a mental illness and replaced with Gender Dysphoria.
With the removal of GID as a mental disorder, these same actions and precautions are slowly going into effect with the mental healthcare professions and elsewhere. Still, transgenders face consistent bias from family members, institutions, and society at large. These prejudices and the negative actions taken as a result of them, such as firing someone for sexual orientation or gender identity issues, have resulted in consequences to the mental health of this group as a whole. While GLB people are two-and-a-half times more likely to face mental health challenges than heterosexual people, 41 percent of transgender people in the US have tried to commit suicide. Trans people are more likely to be rejected by their families and face more instances of violent hate crimes (or bashings) than any other group.
Mental health and addiction recovery for this population often require a sensitive and knowledgeable approach. Doctors and healthcare professionals who are educated about the particular risks transgender people face are a critical part of the healing process, and acceptance, non-judgment, and inclusion are important. Offices that offer gender-neutral bathrooms and provide forms that offer a transgender option or which simply leave a blank after gender go a long way in helping patients to feel accepted and included.
Because this population is at high risk of mental disorders, suicides, violence, and even homicides as a result of the societal stigmas against being transgender, helping patients to find positive ways of coping with and combatting prejudicial treatment may also be important.
No one is mentally ill simply because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. The factors that create mental illness are multi-fold and include genetics, childhood nurturing, and life pressures. Because transgender people face so many life pressures and are often rejected by families of origin, they are at particular risk of developing depression, suicidal ideation, and other mental health problems. Reducing the stigma that creates so many of the problems transgender people face is something we all, not just mental health professionals, can take on. Acceptance, non-judgment, and inclusion are positive goals each one of us can aspire to.
