Washington Examiner healthcare reporter Gabrielle Etzel said two new studies show “there’s no evidence” to suggest puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones contributed to a declining suicide rate among children.
A new study of Finland’s school-based mental health data found that adolescents suffering from gender dysphoria “showed significantly higher psychiatric morbidity” before referral than their peers.
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Etzel said some European countries are starting to pull away from gender transition treatment for children, “particularly in Scandinavian countries” like Denmark.
“And both of those studies found that there’s — it specifically focused on puberty blockers and cross sex hormones and rate of suicide — and they found that there’s no evidence to suggest that puberty blockers or cross sex hormones contributed to a declining rate of suicidality among this population, and perhaps even increased it,” Etzel said on the Scott Jennings Show.
Commentator Scott Jennings said a landmark study from the United Kingdom said giving children hormone drugs and transgender surgeries “was a terrible idea,” and Etzel said the United States did “something similar” under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.
“So those studies, the U.K. study and the one conducted by Secretary Kennedy found that we need to be emphasizing mental health treatment before we go in with interventional habits.”
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Etzel went on to explain various findings in the study from Finland, including that 46% of students who had a level of gender dysphoria had already sought a referral to a gender clinic. Two years after their referral, this rate rose to 62%, meaning children who underwent gender treatment “had higher rates of needing to seek mental health therapy after seeking so-called gender affirming care.”
Etzel added that these rates went up “significantly” for those who underwent medical transition, such as puberty blockers or genital reconstruction.
Etzel also said boys who transition from male to female have a “five times higher rate of needing psychiatric treatment” after this experience. Likewise, girls who transition from female to male are three times more likely to seek mental healthcare.
