Misconception and reality

Being transgender is not a mental illness

Dr Helen Webberley on LBC: trans healthcare, with Tom Swarbrick, LBC

What people think

Being transgender is something a psychiatrist should assess, treat, or talk someone out of. If a person wants to transition, the thinking goes, they must first be evaluated for a mental illness, and a psychiatrist is the right person to do that.

What is actually true

I want to be clear about what psychiatry is actually for: it exists to diagnose and treat mental illness. Being transgender is not a mental illness. That is not a campaigning position, it is the settled view of every major medical and psychiatric body in the world. So when people ask why a psychiatrist should have the final word on whether someone can access gender-affirming care, my answer is that it is the wrong tool for the job entirely. A psychiatrist cannot tell you who you are. Nobody can do that except you.