User:JRubio357/Transgender youth

Gender Dysphoria
Gender dysphoria is a strong, persistent discomfort and distress with one's gender, anatomy, birth sex, and even societal attitudes toward their gender variance. Transgender youth who experience gender dysphoria tend to be very conscious of their body; appearance, weight, and other people's opinions of their body may become very important.[better source needed] A part of gender dysphoria is gender incongruence, which is the disconnect between gender and sex. Incongruence, in its most basic form, is the emotional and/or mental part of dysphoria.

Add: There were originally two types of gender dysphoria: early-onset and late-onset. Early-onset is characterized by symptoms starting at a very young age, while late-onset is characterized by symptoms starting during puberty or later. Recently, there has developed a sub-type, rapid-onset. Rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) is characterized by sudden symptoms with no previous history of possible signs of gender dysphoria.

Suicide
In article: Though several studies that estimate life-threatening behavior for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth have been done, few have been done regarding transgender youth, and thus comparable estimates do not exist. The few studies that have been done, however, have all concluded that transgender youth are at increased risk even over their gay, lesbian, and bisexual counterparts. A 2007 study of transgender youth found that, of the youth interviewed, about half had seriously contemplated ending their own lives. Of those who had thought about suicide, about half had actually made an attempt. Overall, 18% of all interviewed transgender teenagers reported an attempted suicide that was linked to their transgender identity. A similar study was conducted with gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth, with results showing 15% had made a suicide attempt that was due at least partly to their sexual orientation. Both of these numbers are higher than the 8.5% of high school population overall who had reported life-threatening behavior. In a recent study, it is found that these statistics are even higher for those who are homeless or have been rejected from receiving medical care due to their gender identity; this brings the numbers up to 69% with a general statistic stating that around 40% of transgender youth have attempted suicide. In the 2011 National Transgender Discrimination Survey, which surveyed 6,450 transgender individuals, 41% of respondents reported attempting suicide compared to 1.6% of the general population. Suicide rates were reported even higher for those who were unemployed, experienced harassment and physical or sexual abuse, or low household income.

*** Youth are generally predisposed to life-threatening behaviors due to a number of conditions, such as self-hatred, victimisation via bullying, substance abuse, etc. Transgender youth may also face victimization from peers and family members’ negative reactions to their atypical gender presentation, increasing their risk of life-threatening behaviors.[better source needed] Awareness of the suicide rates of LGBT youth spiked post-2010, as a result of significant publicity being given to the recent suicides of Leelah Alcorn, Skylar Lee, and Ash Haffner only being a few.

Critics such as Andrew Gilligan have claimed that figures for youth transgender suicide are grossly exaggerated by transgender groups. Gilligan in particular has claimed that rates in the United Kingdom are less than 1%. Numerous studies, though, across various countries, have noted suicide attempt rates for transgender children ranging from 30-50%, at least double the rates of age-matched cisgender peers.

*** New second paragraph: Transgender youth are more likely to experience negative psychosocial events, such as lack of support, victimization based on their gender identity or sexual orientation, and violence. In addition, these youth experience the least amount of support from their families in comparison to the support received from their small circle of friends. They also receive more pressure and negativity from their peers, outside of their friend groups. Due to the increased rates of victimization and traumatic experiences, transgender youth are more likely to suffer from mental illness, with very high rates of depression and suicidal ideation. Awareness of the suicide rates of LGBT youth spiked post-2010, as a result of significant publicity being given to the recent suicides of Leelah Alcorn, Skylar Lee, and Ash Haffner only being a few.