A military physician has claimed gender affirming drugs could “melt away” psychotic mental health issues in children, following the results of a 2021 study.
A 2021 study entitled “Mental Healthcare Utilization of Transgender Youth Before and After Affirming Treatment,” reviewed the records of children in the DoD health system who were given “heavy psychotropic medications” while being sent through a “gender-affirming pipeline” from 2010-2018, according to Fox News. The study revealed that gender treatments had no significant psychological benefit on children and in many cases, actually caused an increased use of psychotropic medications, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Leading ‘Expert’ On Transing Kids Forced To Add Multiple ‘Corrections’ To Major Study)
The study, which analyzed the data of 3,754 transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents and 6,603 cisgender siblings found that TGD youth were more likely to have a mental health diagnosis, use more mental healthcare services be prescribed more psychotropic medications compared to their cisgendered siblings. Of the TGD youth studied, 963 were found to require an increase of psychotropic medications despite gender-affirming care. The study also noted that older age was associated with decreased care and prescription requirements.
Researchers use the military health care system to investigate mental health in transgender youth https://t.co/sZkMNEUupq #urology #urologist #transgender #trans #TransHealth #MentalHealth @USUhealthsci
— Urology Times (@UrologyTimes) September 8, 2021
One of the study’s authors, Dr. David Klein, who works with DoD children with gender dysphoria at Travis Air Force Base, has stated that the findings don’t mean that “surgery … or subsequent medications” won’t have a long-term benefit for the patients. Though Klein concedes more research is needed, he believes that mental health issues in children, particularly psychosis could “melt away” when gender-affirming treatments are optimized.
“We see higher rates of psychotic conditions and other conditions that might jump out. I think people might be like, ‘Perhaps transgender people are inherently at higher risk for schizophrenia.’ But by looking at these data, in reality the [psychotropic] medications prescribed sometimes may indicate that one’s mental health is suffering,” Klein stated, according to Fox News. “And I think that from a clinician’s perspective, or somebody that treats a lot of folks in this scenario, I think these medications and these diagnoses happen when there’s not enough care from the start.” (RELATED: New Study Supports Social Contagion Theory Of Gender Dysphoria Among Teen Girls)
“I think this by looking at the rates, you know, psychotic disorders, it’s easy to make assumptions [that] this is something inherent to transgender and gender diverse people. I don’t think that we know that. And I think that more likely it’s that when treatments are optimized, these diagnoses start to melt away over time,” he said.
The Pentagon has seemingly rejected Dr. Klein’s argument, saying in response that “Hormone therapy is not a treatment for psychotic conditions.”
“DoD clinicians follow current evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the management of gender dysphoria, published by the Endocrine Society and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Informed consent is obtained from parents for these treatments,” DoD spokesperson Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman said, according to Fox News.