Transgender youth at high risk of suicidal ideation, the report says

New studies show that transgender adolescents are almost five times more likely to have suicidal ideation than non-transgender and heterosexual adolescents.

research, Published on Monday in the Canadian Medical Association JournalWe used data from Statistics Canada’s 2019 Canadian Children and Youth Health Survey to assess the risk of suicide in Canadian transgender and sexual minority adolescents. The data included responses from more than 6,800 adolescents aged 15 to 17 years.

Of these respondents, 1,130 showed some degree of same-sex attractiveness, 265 were unconfident in attractiveness, and 50 reported transgender identities.

According to the survey, nearly 50% of transgender respondents said they had taken suicide seriously in the last 12 months, compared to 10.4% of cisgender heterosexual respondents. (Someone is cisgender if gender identity matches the gender assigned at birth.) Almost 6.8% of the adolescents included in the study attempted suicide in their lifetime.

Ian Colman, a professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Ottawa, who led the study, said transgender adolescents were 7.6 times more likely to attempt suicide than cisgender and heterosexual adolescents. He said he understood.

Young people in Canada are more likely to report transgender or non-binary than older people.according to 2021 census dataAlmost 1 percent of young adults aged 20 to 24 years are so identified. The percentage of people born between 1981 and 1996 was 0.51 percent, and the percentage of people born between 1966 and 1980 was only 0.19 percent.

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Dr. Colman said the new study confirms that he had already suspected transgender youth and suicide.

“This isn’t very surprising, but it’s really disappointing and worrisome. It just emphasizes that the population needs help,” he said.

“The strength of this study is that the data was collected by Statistics Canada as part of a large health survey. Statistics Canada has put a lot of effort into ensuring that the sample is representative of the population. We can be confident that we are getting the truth because we are spending time. A picture of the gender minority population. “

Dr. Colman said the main drawback of this survey was the relatively small number of transgender respondents. He added that it would ideally also look at other factors such as race and socio-economic status.

Fay Johnstone, another author of the study, said she wasn’t surprised either. She is Executive Director of Wisdom 2 Action, a consulting firm that supports civil society organizations and governments on LGBT inclusion and other issues.

“We have always known that in a diverse transgender and gender community, especially young people have a high rate of suicidal ideation and attempted suicide,” she said.

“We know that transgender children are more likely to be involved in homelessness and street life, and are more likely to face bullying and peer-related violence, but young transgender people and gender. Non-conforming children are also more likely to be bullied in public and send a social message of shame and guilt that teaches people not to love themselves. “

Anti-Trance hatred is growing around the world, Johnstone added.

“My greatest hope from this data is to show policymakers, politicians and governments that transgender people cannot be footnotes to mental health policies and financing,” she says. I did.

Karen Blair, an assistant professor of psychology at Trent University who was not involved in the study, said she needed more awareness, acceptance and knowledge of transgender and non-dual people.

“When some of your identities bring about a stigma experience, this can really exacerbate the process of developing a real self,” she said.

“Teenagers may deal with experiences of loneliness, anxiety, and depression over these important years, while transgender, non-binary, and gender-creative youth are from the people closest to them. You may find that there is little support and understanding. “

But she added, “We also need to make sure that becoming a queer isn’t just about sending a message that we face more challenges.”

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