Why so many transgender girls are struggling with mental issues these days?

[Jamie French]

Being trans is not objectively traumatic. That's weak, self defeating horseshit. It's just another personal challenge at worst.

[GroobySteven]

Being trans is not objectively traumatic. That's weak, self defeating horseshit. It's just another personal challenge at worst.

Well said, although different people obviously can be traumatized in different ways because of whom they are, where they are and stigma's associated with their upbringing.

[GroobySteven]

Ohh I totally agree that most of them their issues started before transitioning but why way after transitioning these problems keep being an issue? I guess there is no real answer then. I think that the mental issues of these girls are created my society, if society would accept these girls (passable and non passable) then most of their issues would fade. They would get more jobs, more opportunities would open up, better understanding guys/girls not only people trying to "fu@(" them as a piece of meat and then feel guilty, etc etc
So what do people need to do to help fix this? Perhaps educating society is one of the top priorities. Giving special education to those not familiar with the transgender community, use the power of the media to help society understand what's being a transgender person and that we are no different than their boss, friends, neighbors, family, coworkers etc. They don't have to accept us, just understand us. That's why I always try to educate at least one person every time I can, I know its not much but hopefully one day that person with educate others and create a chain.

I think you're missing my point.
Being transgender isn't why they're mentally ill. They're mentally ill - and becoming somebody other than whom they are, is part of their escape. Transitioning isn't going to fix it, as that's not what was wrong with them - so they have the same issues transitioned as before, which leads to "so many more transgender girls struggling with mental issues these days".

[tsmirandameadows]

Being trans is not objectively traumatic. That's weak, self defeating horseshit. It's just another personal challenge at worst.

And yet we're just discussing how seemingly the overwhelmingy majority of transgirls are extremely insecure, emotionally unstable, and have some very real mental health and behavioral problems. No offense, but some of your outbursts on this forum put you firmly in the "often fucking nuts" camp. Frankly, if you think my argument is self-defeating horseshit, I would call yours delusional bullshit.

[GroobySteven]

And yet we're just discussing how seemingly the overwhelmingy majority of transgirls are extremely insecure, emotionally unstable, and have some very real mental health and behavioral problems. No offense, but some of your outbursts on this forum put you firmly in the "often fucking nuts" camp. Frankly, if you think my argument is self-defeating horseshit, I would call yours delusional bullshit.

I think Jamie is making a good point Miranda - does being trans* automatically give you mental health issues?

a) Do trans-girls inherently have mental health issues because of transgenderism.

OR

b) Do some people with mental health illnesses become transgender?

While I don't think anything is as cut and dry as Jamie states for everyone, I think you're argument that "overwhelmingly majority of transgirls ... have mental health issues" is equally, if not more so dangerously, incorrect.

[GroobyKrissy]

I will only state this as this thread is going to devolve rapidly:

The OP's question is flawed and the subsequent reactions are as well because the parties are making arguments based upon it without properly defining the terms.

The question should be restated to:

"Why [sic] so may TRANSSEXUAL girls are struggling with mental issues these days?"

Transgender and Transsexual are not the same thing and cannot be interchanged (i.e. - you cannot become Transsexual, you can become Transgender) I'm not one to get caught up in labels but for this discussion, it is an important distinction that all parties need to recognize.

[Prospero]

I personally find Jamie's remarks rather harsh and dismissive of the obvious distress and emotional unhappiness felt by some girls. I know many - both those who escort and others. Some can, like Jamie roll with the punches and come back fighting. But some are very fragile emotionally - some because of family rejection, others because of other traumas around their gender issues. I'm very glad for Jamie that she is tough and not troubled by many of the things that knock some other girls sideways. But simply telling the emotionally fragile to get their act together and stop being wimps - essentially her message - is too simplistic. And perhaps as she is strong, some better advice to those who aren't would be more helpful?

[dderek123]

I think trans that have mental health issues have more difficulty dealing with their illness than those who are not trans.

Just my two cents. I'm no doctor, scientist or expert on the subject though.

[tsmirandameadows]

I think you're missing my point.
Being transgender isn't why they're mentally ill. They're mentally ill - and becoming somebody other than whom they are, is part of their escape. Transitioning isn't going to fix it, as that's not what was wrong with them - so they have the same issues transitioned as before, which leads to "so many more transgender girls struggling with mental issues these days".

I think you're making too much of an effort to separate the issues. While I would agree that there are a subset of girls who transition as a result of mental illness, I would also argue, for a variety of reasons, that that subset, while perhaps overrepresented in porn, remains a very small population within the trans community. That said, I would say that the overwhelming majority of transgirls have ingrained negative social-emotional behavioral responses, some to such a degree that they have full blown personality disorders. Likewise, to the extent that depression is the common cold of the mind, I would say that tgirls are FAR more prone to it. With regard to major, neurochemical, mental illness, i.e. schizophrenia, bipolar, clinical depression, I would say tgirls are probably proportionally represented. The point is, I don't think traditional mental illness, i.e. hearing voices, is particularly common among tgirls, but negative social-emotional behavioral patterns ARE near universal. Why?

Well what is behavior? It's a response to an environment. If you live in certain sorts of environments, you develop certain sorts of behavior. If you live in a very cold climate, you always put a jacket on before going out in the winter. More germaine to our discussion, let's say you are a kid from a poor family, where there's no money to fulfill your wants and needs, and where you have little adult supervision, because dad is no where to be found and mom is always either working or stressed the fuck out: such a kid may develop the behavior of always taking a crap load of free samples at stores, whether she actually wants the thing or not, because it's a rare opportunity for her to feel like she got something for herself, and because there's rarely an adult around to tell her that you're only supposed to take one or two, and only if you're interested in potentially buying the product. That's a mildly negative behavior pattern developed in response to a negative environment. It is easy to see how such a negative behavior could escalate however, making the environment worse, i.e. she starts shoplifting. The behavior nevertheless grew out of a need for survival and a way to get your needs met in an environment that wasn't meeting them. As an aside, when I worked in the foster care system, it seemed like each kid had their own set of pathological behaviors which they had developed... to get their needs met growing up in an environment which didn't meet them.

So what does this have to do with trannies? I do insist that being trans is traumatic. If traumatic is too strong a word, then perhaps we can agree on severe, negative environmental factor. To a certain extent, every tgirl is a crossdresser for a time, i.e. we aren't immediately in transition. Crossdressers often go through purge cycles with regard to female clothes and dressing. They have one pressure on them, the need to appear feminine, competing with another, the social expectation that men don't engage in such faggy things as dressing in women's clothing except as a prank or joke. The result is that they dress, feel increasing levels of shame, and then get rid of their female clothes, then after a period of time, begin acquiring new female clothes starting the cycle again. That's a very mildly negative behavior. The thing is, being trans produces a myriad of conflicting pressures, negative social experiences, internal conflict, and other issues, all of which are ripe for developing negative behavioral responses to. These negative behaviors often increase the longer a person is closeted. Likewise, these negative behaviors, such as risk-taking or self-destructive behaviors, often exacerbate the negative environmental factors which are leading to negative behavior to begin with. It becomes mutually reinforcing, and the result is that by the time the girl is 23 or so, been in transition for a couple years, and shooting her first porno, she's for all intents and purposes fucking nuts.

[GroobySteven]

I personally find Jamie's remarks rather harsh and dismissive of the obvious distress and emotional unhappiness felt by some girls.

The point she was making, is that being trans is not necessarily what leads them to having emotional unhappiness and distress.