A recent comprehensive study from Denmark has concluded that individuals identifying as transgender are confronted with notably higher suicide rates and instances of psychiatric conditions.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, revealed that people identifying as transgender had a suicide mortality rate 3.5 times greater and an incidence of attempted suicide 7.7 times higher than those not identifying as transgender.
The research, which spanned four decades from 1980 to 2021, recorded 92 attempted suicides and 12 suicide deaths among the 3,759 individuals identifying as transgender.
The study delved into the medical and legal gender change records of nearly seven million Danish citizens, which included nearly 3,800 transgender individuals.
Furthermore, it was discovered that individuals identifying as transgender generally had shorter lifespans, regardless of whether their deaths were suicide-related or otherwise.
However, an encouraging trend was the decline in suicide rates for both groups over the forty years studied.
“Compared with the nontransgender population, transgender individuals had dramatically increased rates of suicide mortality, suicide attempt, suicide-unrelated mortality, and all-cause mortality,” noted the study.
Moreover, a higher prevalence of psychiatric conditions was observed in the group identifying as transgender.
Around 43 percent of the individuals identifying as transgender had a psychiatric diagnosis, compared to a mere 7 percent in the nontransgender group.
This is undeniably a significant issue that requires attention, according to a sexual health epidemiologist at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, author Dr. Morten Frisch.
The researchers speculated that these findings may also hold relevance for the United States, given the similar suicide rates in both countries.
However, the proportion of transgender individuals in the U.S. might be ten times greater than in Denmark, according to data from the Williams Institute at the University of California in Los Angeles.
The researchers further acknowledged that their study might not fully account for recent increases in trans-identification among younger demographics.
Despite Denmark’s progressiveness on transgender issues and its recognition as one of the most LGBT-friendly countries globally, its findings revealed an alarming rate of suicide and psychiatric conditions among individuals identifying as transgender.
This comes at a time when there are ongoing debates in the U.S. about the potential risks and irreversible effects of medical interventions like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and gender surgeries, especially for young individuals identifying as transgender.
As more minors seek these treatments, 17 U.S. states have introduced measures to limit access to hormone treatments and gender surgeries for children.
Concurrently, more youths than ever are adopting new gender identities, with an estimated 300,000 minors aged 13 to 17 identifying as transgender as of the previous year, marking a significant increase over recent years.
The diagnoses of gender dysphoria in children saw almost a threefold increase from 2017 to 2021.
