7. - Where Gender, Sex and Mental Health Collide

Summary

Those identifying as LGBTQ+ experience an excess of mental health problems and suicide in our society, and their mental health needs are poorly catered for. In the recent past, aversion therapy was given to lesbian and transwomen and conversion therapy remains legal. The ‘gender wars’ have also opened up spaces within society and feminism that can be difficult to negotiate. For transwomen, timely access to adequate care remains a major problem causing considerable emotional distress while public anti-trans sentiment has increased. Repeated denial of the lived experience of trans people is causing psychological harm. The rise in gender dysphoria in assigned female at birth (AFAB; or natal female) girls and their treatment has caused major controvery. We must to acknowledge both the distress of trans people, who feel frustrated and angry at having to jump through the hoops of psychiatric assessment and being blamed for male violence from which they are also at risk, and the distress and fear of women who have been conditioned lifelong to fear, and/or have experienced violence, at losing their safe spaces. Seeking ways to ensure that everyone feels welcomed not only in services but also in society.