Sex Reassignment Therapy - Psychological Treatment

Psychological Treatment

The need for treatment is emphasized by the higher rate of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and various addictions, as well as a higher suicide rate among untreated transsexual people than in the general population. Many of these problems, in the majority of cases, disappear or decrease significantly after a change of gender role and/or physical characteristics.

Many transgender and transsexual activists, as well as many caregivers, state that health and health-related problems are not usually related to the gender identity issues themselves, but to problems that arise from dealing with a gender identity that does not match an assigned gender role and the related social conflicts. Many feel that the health-related problems from the gender identity conflict are much more likely to be diagnosed in transsexual people than in the general population. Transsexual people are usually required to visit a mental health professional to obtain approval for hormones and sex reassignment surgery, thus exposing the transsexual community to a higher level of evaluation for mental health issues than the general populace.

Therapists' records reveal that many transsexual people do not believe they need psychological treatment as mandated by the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care, but rather they will acquiesce to legal and medical expectations in order to gain rights which are granted through the medical/psychological hierarchy. (Brown 103) Legal needs such as a change of sex on legal documents, and medical needs, such as sex reassignment surgery, are usually impossible to obtain without a doctor and/or therapist's approval. Due to this, many transsexual people feel coerced into affirming pre-ordained symptoms of self-loathing, impotence, and sexual-preference, in order to overcome simple legal and medical hurdles. (Brown 107) Transsexual people who do not submit to this medical hierarchy typically face the option of remaining invisible, with limited legal options and, possibly, with identification documents incongruent with gender presentation.