>>2040>Is transitioning the best form of treatment for children who experience "gender dysphoria"?I think that it's almost entirely case by case, but no, I wouldn't agree that it's a smart idea to make a permanent choice like that when kids minds will change so much so unpredictably and they simply aren't mature enough to be able to understand the decision.
>A lot of the people who are transitioning could easily benefit from extensive psychotherapy, not transitioning. I mean, you do have to go through some treatment before you can even qualify to apply for hormone therapy, let alone surgical options as far as I understand it. Generally I'd agree with you though, if someone is so severe they can't survive safely in the community they shouldn't be in the community, not rushed to potentially inappropriate treatments.
>Especially the ones who aren't overly dysphoric (which is increasingly common). Hormones and surgery should be restricted to ages 18+ and even then only the more extreme cases. The trans community seem to want to make it EASIER for people to get access to hormones but I think we need tougher gatekeepers and that it's way too easy right now.Hormones I don't necessarily agree with, there are some options that don't really have serious long term effects from my understanding, and they are useful to start young if a case does end up needing to transition, as it relates to better post op results. That being said, I don't think the class of medication I'm talking about is a hormone, so I agree with you, that should be something restricted to at least age 16 (16 is medically independent in my country, sign their own documents, all that sort of stuff, could be different overseas). Surgery should be 18+, and more for a last resort option than anything else, which is the prevailing medical attitude anyway.
>Homosexuality is not a mental illness and doesn't need to be treated as one but it certainly seems to come about as a product of familial pathology. So it's fair to say that there'd be a high percentage of homosexuals who are pathological due to their family environment and not necessarily because of homophobia in society (which is relatively rare these days, let's be honest).Just so I get this correct, you're saying that the actual distressing parts of homosexuality are societal more than anything? If so, once again, I agree, and there's options to learn to cope with that stuff via therapy as well.
>The high suicide rate amongst trans people is evidence that transitioning is not always the best optionThere is some evidence to suggest that the suicide rate does decrease when they do transition, as well as global functioning increasing, though from what I know we don't really have very good data on what the pre-op rates of suicide are, and post-op isn't exactly much better. Swedish study tends to focus on their actual reaction to the transition, satisfaction with it and general state of dysphoria.
There's a point to be raised that there still being an increased suicide rate compared to general population doesn't mean it isn't working. We see the same in people with Bipolar or Schizophrenia even after they're successfully treated with medication, it's just that they tend to have some other issues, whether societal or whatever.
Regret rates can be related to how well we can make them pass as the opposite sex as well, which isn't always great without ridiculous amounts of plastic surgery, which is prohibitively expensive.
And sure, there's an element of narcissism you can argue in almost any mental disorder. In anxiety for thinking that people give a shit about you, when in reality people couldn't care less, in the way depression makes people think other people intensely dislike them, even though once again odds are they don't have any strong feelings, you can name almost any disorder and it has elements of narcissism, because elements of narcissism are simply part of what makes us human.
In general, I don't think it's worth judging trans people. Whether you like them or not, they are mentally ill, and shitting on the mentally ill is always a terrible thing. Even if they're absolutely 100% wrong and unjustified in their beliefs, you shouldn't shit on them for it any more than you'd shit on a schizophrenic for the nature of delusions. It doesn't help anyone, and it just hurts the group being targeted.
You can not agree with what they're saying without needing to claim they're all fetishist freaks who are ruining being a woman and should feel bad for it. There's a big gap between not pandering to someones beliefs and being cruel to them.
It's even sillier when you consider that doctors with huge amounts of experience simply don't understand enough about the human condition to say conclusively either way, so it's unlikely that some randoms on the internet who heard of a few studies supporting it and then skimmed one or two are going to have it all figured out.