In recent years, Finland has led the way in curtailing the widespread professional recommendation of gender transitioning in minors. In 2020, the Scandinavian nation announced it would be prioritizing psychological interventions instead of affirmation for gender dysphoric youth, particularly those presenting with a post-pubertal onset. Doing so acknowledged the worldwide increase in adolescent girls and young women suddenly wishing to transition.

It was a monumental decision, and a new study in European Psychiatry offers further evidence as to why it was the right one. Drawing from a sample of over 3,000 patients seen by Finland’s gender identity services between 1996 and 2019, the paper reported that the average age for gender referrals had decreased significantly.

It also found that people seeking to transition presented with a greater number of psychiatric problems, and mental health problems persisted post-transition. More specifically, people with gender dysphoria were more likely to have received psychiatric treatment, both before and after seeing a gender specialist, for conditions including mood and anxiety disorders and developmental disorders such as autism.

Previous research has shown that roughly two-thirds of children seeking transition today have other mental health diagnoses. In many cases, these problems preceded the onset of their gender dysphoria, which suggests that what they are struggling with may be rooted in something other than their gender. Similar results have been found in adults with gender dysphoria, with 30% to 40% presenting with additional mental health concerns, such as substance use and personality disorders, anxiety, and depression.

The Finnish study confirmed two well-documented trends in the research literature: that high rates of psychiatric co-morbidity are evident in the gender dysphoric population and that psychiatric needs often do not lessen after transition. As well, anyone who has ever known an adolescent girl or was once one knows that identity questioning is a typical part of the developmental process. The study’s authors also acknowledged the concurrent mental health crisis burgeoning among young people in the West, stemming from the widespread use of social media.

This, of course, counters the commonly accepted narrative that any and all mental health problems experienced by gender dysphoric people are purely due to social stigma and distress associated with feeling that one is living in the wrong body. For those who have gotten swept up in this movement, transition may temporarily alleviate their suffering, but it won’t address the underlying cause. It does vulnerable and impressionable young people a disservice to pretend otherwise.