Magical thinking, according to Google’s AI overview, “is a cognitive distortion where a person believes their thoughts, wishes, or actions can directly influence external events, often without a logical connection.”
It’s also known as superstitious thinking.
We all see it in children when they knock on wood to invite good luck or when they worry about stepping on a crack. Athletes wear the same socks during games because they believe it helps them win. For kids, magical thinking is a way to handle a complicated and confusing world. But when it continues into adulthood, clinicians classify it as a psychiatric disorder.
Image generated by ChatGPT
Schizophrenia, for example, is defined by the ICD-10 medical codebook as a disorder in which people cannot reliably distinguish reality from delusions. The same ICD-10 lists transsexualism as the persistent urge to belong to the opposite sex, sometimes pursued through surgery.
Both are diseases, since ICD stands for the International Classification of “Diseases”. They are not merely choices or experiences.
The main issue is that transgenderism is more about belief than biology. Words might change, but reality remains the same. Calling a heart attack a “myocardial infarction” doesn’t change the underlying biology. Nor does calling a stroke a “cerebral vascular accident.”
Similarly, describing a man as a “woman” because of his gender identity doesn’t alter his chromosomes, anatomy, or reproductive capacity.
Believing otherwise is magical thinking.
Gender is determined in the womb by 6–7 weeks of gestation. Children quickly recognize differences between boys and girls, just as they see that Mommy and Daddy are not the same. Pretending to be the opposite sex is similar to pretending to be a cat or a superhero. If your child, who pretends to be a dog, is sick, do you take them to a veterinarian or a pediatrician? Pretend does not equal reality.
Few physicians have spoken as plainly on this topic as Dr. Paul McHugh, former psychiatrist-in-chief at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the world’s leading medical institutions. He has described transgenderism as a “mental disorder” that requires treatment, not affirmation.
“People who undergo gender reassignment surgery do not go from being men to women or vice versa,” McHugh explained. “Rather, they become feminized men or masculinized women.” Reality is what is, not what you wish it to be. Thinking otherwise is magical or delusional.
McHugh cited research showing that the suicide rate among transgender individuals after surgery is 20 times higher than average, hardly a ringing endorsement of “transition” as treatment. Other studies show that 70%-80% of children who express transgender feelings eventually outgrow them without medical intervention.
While one can outgrow fantasies, medical or surgical gender reassignment is permanent, and may leave one with regret and depression.
Minneapolis transgender mass shooter Robin Westman confessed that he “was tired of being trans” and wished he was “never brain-washed.”
In other words, biology is immutable, and medical science understands this. To pretend otherwise is not progress or enlightenment. It’s magical thinking.
Yet politicians, corporations, and media outlets have enthusiastically embraced this fantasy. We are told men can become pregnant. Mother are replaced by “birthing parents.” Men can “chestfeed” newborn babies.
Tampons are stocked in boys’ bathrooms. Male athletes compete in women’s sports, winning scholarships, records, and medals, even injuring female competitors. Questioning any of this is often called “hate,” similar to doubting the emperor’s new clothes.
Corporate America has jumped on the bandwagon. Bud Light featured a transgender influencer in its marketing campaign and lost billions. Victoria’s Secret and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, once icons of feminine beauty, now promote men as women. Reality is sacrificed for virtue signaling. But at what cost?
A generation ago, such ideas would have been dismissed as laughable and absurd. Today, they are enforced as dogma. Dissent is no longer tolerated. Notice how corporate media is ignoring the transgender status of the Minneapolis shooter, out of fear of offending the trans community, while reflexively blaming the gun and being unable to find a motive for the shooting.
Cultural indulgence might be laughable were it not for the tragic consequences. About a third of transgender individuals suffer from depression or anxiety. Among transgender youth, the rate of depression exceeds 50 percent. Many are prescribed antidepressants while also taking high doses of cross-sex hormones, all on top of the already volatile hormones of adolescence.
The result of this hormonal hodgepodge, as ChatGPT explained, is a “layered neuroendocrine environment” with unpredictable effects on mood, cognition, and behavior, a toxic stew that bathes the developing brain.
As ChatGPT further clarifies, “Puberty hormones already reshape the stress and reward system. Antidepressants adjust serotonin/dopamine balance. Exogenous sex hormones push development in a new direction.” This is like a kid in a chemistry lab, mixing things together to see what happens until the entire lab goes 'kaboom.'
In the wake of the recent school shooting, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced an NIH study to determine “if a link exists between psychiatric medications, such as SSRIs, and violent attacks.” He should go further by studying the additional effects of adding sex hormones to SSRIs.
Democrats, the media, and numerous major medical associations, including the American Medical Association, support
The consequences can be deadly. Several recent mass shooters, including the attacker at the Nashville Covenant School in 2023, the Colorado Springs Club Q shooter, and the Highlands Ranch STEM school shooter, are all identified as transgender. Last week in Minneapolis, a transgender individual shot up a Catholic school.
While correlation does not mean causation, ignoring psychiatric instability in favor of political correctness can be reckless and lethal.
Advocates argue that supporting transgender identity is compassionate. However, enabling delusion is no more caring than giving an addict a needle. “Safe injection sites” are not effective solutions to drug addiction, and promoting medical or surgical gender mutilation is not an appropriate treatment for a psychiatric disorder.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness envisions a world where those with mental illness “live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares.” True caring means guiding people toward reality, not indulging harmful fantasies.
Why do politicians, media, and corporations go along with it? The answer is power and profit. Virtue signaling gains political support. Corporate marketing grabs headlines and placates activists. None of this helps the confused teenager or the depressed adult.
Stop with the magical thinking. Men cannot become women, and women cannot become men. Words and wishes don’t change chromosomes. A caring society doesn’t indulge in delusions; it faces them with the truth and provides real help and support.
It’s time for a reality check.
Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brian’s Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph, and email brianjoondeph@gmail.com.