Everything on this site about mental health & suicide risk: 61 pieces in all.
No, trans people are not just autistic. The two can overlap, because both can involve difficulty fitting in, and some autistic people find it harder…
Being told who you are is wrong is not a single event. It is something that happens repeatedly, in small moments and large ones, and the weight of it…
Transitioning is safe. The hormones used in gender-affirming care are bio-identical and the medical risks are genuinely small. The dangers trans…
Gender dysphoria is the distress that comes from a mismatch between your gender identity and the body or role you were assigned. It is distinct from…
Sensory differences and gender dysphoria are two distinct experiences that can overlap. Autistic young people are statistically more likely to be…
Trans people face challenges that are both deeply personal and shaped by the systems around them. Gender dysphoria, when it occurs, varies…
Gender dysphoria is the distress that arises when a person's gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. It is recognised as…
Trans-competent mental health support means working with a therapist or counsellor who understands gender diversity without treating your identity as…
Being transgender is not a mental illness. The DSM-5 removed Gender Identity Disorder entirely and replaced it with Gender Dysphoria, recognising…
Counselling is genuinely helpful for trans people and for people who support them, but only when it is affirmative and supportive. Good counselling…
Gender dysphoria in later life is real, valid, and more common than most people realise. It can surface or intensify at midlife for the first time,…
Hurtful speech directed at trans people is not a harmless expression of opinion. It contributes directly to the mental health crisis affecting the…
Conversion therapy bans are not a solution in search of a problem. The evidence base is substantial and consistent: the NHS, the British…
Parents who confiscate hormones, withhold medical consent, or block access to gender-affirming care are causing real, measurable harm to their child.…
The finalised Medicaid ban ends federal funding for gender-affirming hormones, puberty blockers, and surgery for trans minors, with existing patients…
When I say these words hurt, I am not talking about someone feeling offended. The surveys document measurable patterns: people hiding who they are at…
Autism and gender diversity do overlap more often than we would expect by chance. What the research has not established is why. There is no evidence…
Gender-affirming medical treatment is essential healthcare. The NHS, the World Health Organisation, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists recognise…
Empathy means understanding and sharing what a patient feels. Affirmation in a clinical context means agreeing that a particular treatment path is…
Yes, trans people without gender dysphoria exist. Gender dysphoria describes the distress some trans people feel when their gender identity conflicts…
Affirming a trans child's gender identity does not cause harm. The research picture is consistent: trans young people with supportive families show…
Conversion therapy bills in the UK have explicitly excluded trans people from protection. Practices designed to change or suppress a person's gender…
Questioning your trans identity during a hostile political climate is not the same as doubting who you are. The despair many trans people feel right…
Trans people experience significantly higher rates of harassment, physical violence, hate crimes, and safety fears than the general population. The…
Even without hormones, the steps you can take right now, your clothes, your hair, your name, your pronouns, and the way you present yourself to the…
You're doing a fantastic job. Just believing and supporting your child means the absolute world to them. Parental acceptance is one of the most…
The biggest message I'd give anyone navigating transition or any kind of identity work is this: plan carefully, hold the plan lightly, and don't be…
He was already being seen as male by most people around him, layering jackets over a binder every single day, and waiting. Helen thinks about what it…
A young person goes to their paediatrician hoping finally to be understood, and leaves with their identity questioned and their care delayed.
Her son came out as trans at thirteen, and everything the professionals said pointed in opposite directions. This is what actually helped.
Robyn was eleven when she was referred to the NHS gender service, and fourteen when she realised she might be seventeen before anyone saw her.
An autistic man who spent decades quietly finding himself asked Sammy whether the same child, born into today's world, would have been guided…
Tariq was forty-one when a scan revealed an intersex condition his family had known about since his birth, and the question that followed changed…
Yara was seventeen when her home went cold, and what followed was not a loss but a discovery: that family can be chosen, and sometimes the people who…
Two parents who loved their child equally but not yet in the same direction: one ready, one frightened, and a marriage strained to its limit before…
Camila swallowed her first HRT tablet expecting transformation and felt nothing, then weeks later cried at a television advert and understood that…
Sam had been bracing for his own wrong name every day for years, without quite knowing it, until a nurse called "Sam?" into an ordinary waiting room…
The distress trans young people experience is real, well-documented, and linked to rejection, blocked care, and hostility, not to being trans. A New…
New research from Virginia Commonwealth University, published in APA PsycNet, found that anxiety about anti-transgender legislation drives…
Conversion therapy does not fail to work: it succeeds at causing harm. A new toolkit developed by Outright International and PsySSA gives mental…
New Australian research demonstrates that gender-affirming care reduces mental health costs, yet the UK continues to spend millions revisiting…
Every concession on trans rights becomes the new floor for the next demand. The UK Labour Party shows exactly where the centrist 'moderation'…
Trans rights activists gathered outside Mount Sinai Hospital in East Harlem on 8 September after the hospital announced it would no longer provide…
The Waiting Well pilot in South West England offers peer support, practical workshops, and community connection to trans and non-binary people…
When a bullied 15-year-old trans girl asked whom she was harming simply by existing as herself, no adult could answer her. The difficulty adults have…
A Finnish register study published in Acta Paediatrica in April 2026 found higher rates of psychiatric treatment among young people who sought gender…
Helen writes about Caroline Litman, whose daughter Alice died by suicide in May 2022 after waiting 1,023 days for gender-affirming care. Speaking at…
Detransitioned people are real, their experiences matter, and they deserve compassion and honest care. But the Skeptic article frames transition…
William Garwood, a teacher at St Mary's Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy in West Yorkshire, was banned from teaching after telling Year 11 pupils…
At the end of March 2026, 6,435 people in Scotland were waiting for a first NHS gender clinic appointment, with more than 1,000 having waited over…
Massachusetts hospitals including Baystate Health, Fenway Health, and Outer Cape Health Services have stopped providing gender-affirming care to…
Waiting Well is a new pilot support service from LGBT Foundation and Gendered Intelligence, launched in South West England for trans and non-binary…
NHS gender identity clinic waiting times routinely stretch to five, six, seven years or more for a first appointment, far beyond the NHS's own…
Tom Steyer, running for California governor, made an unequivocal case for trans student-athletes being allowed to play on teams matching their gender…
A SEGM-affiliated paper in Nature Human Behaviour raises methodological objections to a 2024 study finding that anti-trans laws increased suicide…
When social workers become involved with trans young people, families need clear information about what constitutes a genuine safeguarding issue and…
Regret is a natural human experience that takes many forms in gender transition, and deserves thoughtful, compassionate exploration rather than fear…
A school trip story shows what happens when trans children are simply allowed to be themselves.
Following her GMC referral of Dr Hilary Cass, Helen Webberley reflects on the patient testimonies and stories that have shaped her perspective.
Research reveals a link between autism and gender incongruence, yet the relationship is far more nuanced than statistics alone suggest.
A viral video of a father supporting his transgender son demonstrates the profound protective effect family acceptance can have on young people's…