Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, March 7, 2025 Real World News

For years, transgender activists and their woke allies in major media insisted that denying young people gender-bending surgical procedures increases their likelihood of self-harm and suicide.

A study by a team of doctors from the University of Texas and Baylor College of Medicine, however, finds the opposite.

The study, published on Feb. 25 in the Oxford Academic Journal of Sexual Medicine, found that permanent transgender medical procedures are themselves closely linked to increased suicide rates.

The researchers analyzed more than 100,000 patients with gender dysphoria, and looked at the outcomes for those who received surgery vs. those who didn’t.

Depression, anxiety, suicidal feelings and drug abuse were all “significantly higher” for those who received surgery compared to those who didn’t.

“Mental health outcomes included depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, substance use disorder, and body dysmorphic disorder, assessed over two years post-surgery using clinician-verified ICD-10 codes,” the researchers wrote.

Additionally, “those undergoing surgery were at significantly higher risk for depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and substance use disorders than those without surgery.”

According to the study, male subjects showed a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety post-surgery, while “Feminizing individuals demonstrated particularly high risk for depression” and substance abuse.

“Despite the sobering findings, the study did not discourage the mutilating gender-affirming treatments but recommended post-surgery mental health therapy,” Mark Jackson wrote for The Populist Times on March 5.

The researchers wrote: “Gender-affirming surgery, while beneficial in affirming gender identity, is associated with increased risk of mental health issues, underscoring the need for ongoing, gender-sensitive mental health support for transgender individuals’ post-surgery.”

Jackson noted: “Many parents opted for gender-affirming procedures believing it would prevent their children from committing suicide. Turns out they only need mental health therapy, which could have been provided to save their lives before undergoing permanent life-altering procedures, that only exacerbate their mental health problems.”

Florida neurosurgeon Dr. Brett Osborn, who was not part of the study, said that “surgery is no guarantee of happiness.”

Osborn also stressed the need for comprehensive psychological evaluations, especially for those with preexisting mental health challenges. Mental health support, lifestyle modifications and counseling should all take precedence before surgery, not after, he said.

“You don’t amputate a limb because of temporary pain, and you certainly don’t permanently alter your body without exhausting every other option first,” he said.

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  Academic study shows opposite is true about gender-bender claims on suicide risks, WorldTribune.com