The Year in Review: Mental Health

Over the years mental health problems have been associated with transgender people looking for medical gender confirming treatment, However, some of those studies present with serious limitations. [ view full abstract ]

Over the years mental health problems have been associated with transgender people looking for medical gender confirming treatment, However, some of those studies present with serious limitations.

The aim of this presentation is to describe some of the main studies published investigating mental health problems in the transgender population since the last EPATH meeting. [ view full abstract ]

The aim of this presentation is to describe some of the main studies published investigating mental health problems in the transgender population since the last EPATH meeting.

An electronic search of literature was conducted using the following search engines: ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed from May 2015 till February 2017. Within each search engine, the following search terms... [ view full abstract ]

An electronic search of literature was conducted using the following search engines: ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed from May 2015 till February 2017. Within each search engine, the following search terms were entered: gender dysphoria, gender identity disorder, trans people, trans individual, transgender, and transsexual. These terms were combined with terms relating to mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety or self harm among others using the AND operator

A total of 26 studies were identified regarding mental health problems in transgender people during this period. The studies were primarily in adults living in western societies. These studies will be described briefly during... [ view full abstract ]

A total of 26 studies were identified regarding mental health problems in transgender people during this period. The studies were primarily in adults living in western societies. These studies will be described briefly during the presentation.

Findings are conclusive that mental health problems, primarily depression and anxiety, are more common among transgender people not on treatment when compared to the cisgender population. Over the last years studies appear to... [ view full abstract ]

Findings are conclusive that mental health problems, primarily depression and anxiety, are more common among transgender people not on treatment when compared to the cisgender population. Over the last years studies appear to be more robust and addressed some of the limitations of older studies, being longitudinal in nature, and having matched controls. Gender confirming medical treatment was found to be associated with a reduction of mental health problems, however some of these studies require replication. There is currently good evidence regarding the existence of certain mental health problems pre-transition, and the literature should move away from this. Future studies should focus on to how to prevent these mental health problems, levels of mental health problems post treatment, populations at risk and supportive evidence based treatment interventions. The role of society in the development and prevention of mental health problems in this population needs further exploration.