When You Are…

…Harassed, bullied, belittled, constantly told you are worthless, you are going to hell, you’re a sinner it is going to take toll on you.

Demographic and Psychosocial Factors Associated With Psychological Distress and Resilience Among Transgender Individuals
PubMed
By Emily Bariola, et al
Am J Public Health. 2015 October; 105(10): 2108–2116.

Abstract
Objectives. We examined the independent demographic and psychosocial factors associated with psychological distress and resilience among transgender men and women.

Methods. Our data came from an online survey involving a national Australian sample of 169 transgender men and women in 2011. Survey questions assessed demographics; sources of support; contact with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peers; and experiences of victimization. We assessed the outcomes with the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale and the Brief Resilience Scale.

Results. In all, 46.0% of the sample reported high or very high levels of psychological distress. Multivariable regression analyses identified considerably different independent factors for psychological distress and resilience. Younger age, feeling unable to turn to family for support, and victimization experiences were associated with greater psychological distress, whereas higher income, identifying as heterosexual, and having frequent contact with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peers were associated with greater resilience.

Conclusions. With different factors identified for psychological distress and resilience, these findings may help inform the development of tailored mental health interventions and resilience-building programs for this vulnerable population.

The study goes on to talk about the results (footnotes references were deleted by me),

In this national sample of transgender Australians, several demographic and psychosocial factors were associated with psychological distress and resilience. Interestingly, the factors for psychological distress were markedly different than those for resilience. According to the multivariable analyses, younger age, not turning to family for support, and more experiences of victimization were independently associated with greater psychological distress scores, whereas high income, identifying as heterosexual, and frequent contact with LGBT peers were independently associated with greater resilience scores. These findings suggest that interventions and programs designed to address mental health may need to be targeted and tailored differently to those seeking to build general resilience.

In regards to psychological distress, one important factor to emerge from the present study was social support. Although previous research has shown that social support is an important protective factor for transgender mental health, the relative importance of different sources of support has not been addressed; thus, the present study has revealed some unique findings in this regard. The findings indicated that, relative to other sources, family of origin may have the most influence in protecting against psychological distress. The protective value of familial support has also been observed among individuals of sexual minority groups. This finding may be a function of the differing potency of ascribed relationships (family) compared with achieved relationships (friends or partners). Because gender-identity affirmation is less likely to occur within transgender individuals’ ascribed relationships,42 our findings support a need to encourage family members to be open and receptive sources of support.

In contrast to this finding, none of the sources of support were found to be independently associated with resilience, whereas frequent contact with LGBT peers was revealed as a significant factor. This finding supports the work of qualitative studies that have identified themes of resilience, and other quantitative studies that have identified LGBT community factors as important in protecting against negative psychological outcomes. It has been proposed that, for marginalized people, identification with similar others allows for the development of a positive in-group identity, encourages positive self-appraisal, and allows access to group-level coping. It is suggested that these processes may facilitate a greater capacity to overcome stress and adversity. Furthermore, for transgender individuals, frequent peer contact may be particularly important for developing individual resilience, as gender transitioning can be a complex and challenging process and having peers who share similar experiences may provide not only a sense of support and understanding, but also a sense of belonging. Future research could consider whether contact with transgender peers in particular is more protective than contact with LGBT peers in general.

It was not surprising that we also found experience of victimization to be a significant factor of psychological distress. This replicates the findings of previous research showing the detrimental impact of gender-related stigma on the mental health of transgender people. The negative mental health effects of minority stress on sexual minority individuals is also well established. This finding lends further support to calls for addressing transphobia and gender-related stigmatization at the societal level. In most developed countries, wide-reaching campaigns have been conducted to address homophobia in the case of sexual minorities, but less has been done to address transphobia. It is likely that broader public acceptance of gender variance and transgender identities would reduce instances of harassment, leading to a reduction in minority stress and, with that, an improvement in mental health outcomes.

I think this study shows what we already knew… having a support network reduces stress, anxiety, and creating a positive transition.

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The Gender Dysphoria Affirmative Working Group webpage says this about “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria.”

We are a broad coalition of prominent medical and mental health professionals, academics, researchers, activists, and allies, some trans and others cis, all with expertise in gender and sexuality and troubled by the notion of “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria.”  Over the past decade, we have witnessed an increasing number of transgender and gender nonconforming youth and adolescents come out, as well as unprecedented hostility from those attempting to limit acceptance and access to services, a masquerade of 'concern' through misinformation and fear.

Evidence-based affirmative approaches - in which the youth’s self-reported gender is respected and where the youth is provided the safety and freedom to explore the gender and identity without judgment or predetermined outcome - have been demonstrated to improve quality of life, relationship satisfaction, self-esteem and self-confidence, and clearly show reductions in anxiety, depression, suicidal tendencies, and substance use.  Given space and time, these youth discover what level of transition is appropriate for them, if any.  Rates of regret are miniscule.

As people intimately involved with the youth in question, we have established this site to discuss the overwhelming evidence that affirmative approaches yield happier and better adjusted children, to confront the untruths propagated by those promoting ROGD, and to make plain that "Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria" is a concept contradictory to evidence-based best practices and harmful to vulnerable youth.

Every child is unique, and we hope this information provides help to struggling individuals, families, and allies.

I did outreach at two PSY 430 classes and ROGD was brought up in one of the classes.

My answer was,

When I came out to my brother I invited him over to my house to come out to him but after two hours of talking with him I couldn’t bring myself to tell him, I finally told him as he was stepping out the door I blurted out I’m trans!

Well for him it was ROGD, for me it was the culmination of a life long struggle with my gender dysphoria. When he asked me how long have I felt this way I told him remember back in ’61…