Touchy, but suicide rates?

[LatrellHK]

Does anyone have any information about suicide rates? I know this is a sensitive subject to many, but I need the numbers really for my presentation this Thursday. I have everything I need besides pictures, age appropriate might I add, and numbers. I don't even have numbers for amount of transgender people but suicide numbers is like a Wheres Waldo? moment where Google isn't helping. So does anyone know? I don't wanna say, "Suicide and substance abuse rates are higher" and have no numbers to back me up.

[Cindy]

Suicide rate among transgender people trends at 16 times higher than the general community.  It has been widely reported that about 40% of transgender self harm or parasuicide.

The suicide rate and incident of self harm drops dramatically following medical intervention and hormonal treatment. There is a lower rate of harm in transgender who live in societies that accept us as normal human beings.

[Jill F]

The number that I keep reading is that 41% of transgender people have attempted suicide, but these are just the survivors being polled.

We can't know for sure what the success rate is.   A lot of trans people suffer silently and never tell anyone why they really killed themselves.

[Jessica Merriman]

When you include cis people who commit suicide it would not surprise me if 50% or more considered themselves as possibly transgendered. Many do not have the strength to even consider therapy and assistance with their issue. I know I personally ran many suicides where family had no idea why. Relationships were good, financials were good, etc. I followed a few after the fact and many families found items related to being a closeted trans person while cleaning out their residences. So I believe the number percentage wise is MUCH higher when these people are included. Just a personal observation though without scientific data or polling. 

[skin]

The most quoted figures come from the williams institue at ucla.  Just google that and transgender and you should find the source to quote.

[spacerace]

http://www.thetaskforce.org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf


everything you ever wanted to know about the trans demographic, including self-harm and suicide. it is a big report, you will have to comb through it.

[Cynobyte]

Don't know how appropriate this may be, maybe ask the moderator.   I think you should start a thread and ask who on this site has to honestly say that  they never contemplated suicide?  I think the numbers are alot higher unfortunately. .  It's easier to admit you never thought about it than to open up and admit you have..  hope this helps.  This site would be perfect for that question.  Find how many have read the forum to how many replied?

[Dee Marshall]

Cynobyte, that would be a legitimate thread, but statistically almost useless. The subject group would be entirely self selected and say nothing about the population as a whole.  Why put us through that for no benefit?

[LizMarie]

Also this report (as mentioned above):

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/AFSP-Williams-Suicide-Report-Final.pdf

The MtF and FtM suicide attempt rates are actually higher than 41% but the overall transgender suicide attempt rate is brought down by the lower suicide attempt rate for crossdressers (who are included under the transgender umbrella).

[LatrellHK]

This will help me a lot, thanks so much. I need everyone I am telling this to to understand this is serious and the class listens when I bring up big numbers, and not good ones. My goal is to help at least three people see through. Might not be much, but three people is a lot better than none and those people can help others. I'll take what I can get really.

[Paige]

Every time I read these stats, I just want to cry, then I get very angry.   I swear the next time I hear a hateful comment concerning transgender people I'm likely to explode.  My days of tolerating this crap are over and I'm to the point where I don't really care if someone draws conclusions to my sensitivity on this subject.  If they can figure it out, good for them, maybe they'll understand a bit more.

Take care all,
Paige

[Cynobyte]

We have to tolerate it, but also stand up to it too.  In the end people will see we are trying to make our life better.  They will also see the damage we cause has less impact than these transphobic nuts.  We as a whole do make a mark for the better on society;)

[Arch]

I never know how to classify myself with regard to suicide attempts.

I have had suicidal ideation ever since I was in elementary school. I started self-harming and making suicidal gestures as a teen. These acts are pretty easy to categorize. But then there were the times I started to kill myself or tried to kill myself and couldn't complete the attempt. I suppose they would count in a survey as gestures only, but they were not meant to be cries for help; they were meant to leave me dead and free. I guess I have an incredibly strong desire to live, and I could never quite overcome it.

I would categorize these as abortive suicide attempts. But the surveys I've seen do not explicitly include such acts, and I wonder if many other trans people can be classified in the same way. The stats may be inflated or deflated, but I don't think that the numbers for actual taken-to-completion suicide attempts tell the whole story.

[Obfuskatie]

Suicide rate among transgender people trends at 16 times higher than the general community.  It has been widely reported that about 40% of transgender self harm or parasuicide.

The suicide rate and incident of self harm drops dramatically following medical intervention and hormonal treatment. There is a lower rate of harm in transgender who live in societies that accept us as normal human beings.

I just wanted to add that the suicide rate for transgender people who have had SRS, HRT and are living as their chosen gender is around half the national average in the U.S.. Which shows that there's not only a cure for gender dysphoria, but that we are more stable than the general population after a certain point in our transition.  The therapy probably has a lot to do with it as well.