Contradictory statistics and studies? (trigger warning)

[Dani]

I have been a practicing Pharmacist for over 40 years. I have seen "studies" come and go. Studies taken out of context or inadequate review cause many problems.

For example; many years ago there was a study that showed Oat bran lowered heart disease. So, the local cardiologist had the pharmacy stock Oat bran flakes that the patient was to sprinkle over his food for each meal. What a joke! Oat bran tastes like shredded cardboard and covering each meal with this stuff was just disgusting. The patients refused to use it. So much for current "studies". The common sense approach is that using diet to control disease must be done over an entire lifetime, not at the last few years of life. Now I am in favor of oat bran in a palatable form such as oat meal or toasted oat cereals in little round circles. But do not expect to see results in just a few weeks or months.

One last comment; the best studies use a large group of people to draw a conclusion. Any individual may or may not be consistent with the results of the "study". When I hear people quote a "study", I think to myself, here we go again. The practical application of "study" results may or may not apply to a specific individual.

[EmmaLoo]

For the OP.

Someone mentioned Zinnie Jones Gender Analysis website site and sure enough, she's got a pretty good takedown and analysis of the study you are referring to, and others, on her site.

http://genderanalysis.net/2015/09/paul-mchugh-is-wrong-transitioning-is-effective-gender-analysis-10/

[staciM]

I thought it was based on the Swedish study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885

This study found substantially higher rates of overall mortality, death from cardiovascular disease and suicide, suicide attempts, and psychiatric hospitalisations in sex-reassigned transsexual individuals compared to a healthy control population. This highlights that post surgical transsexuals are a risk group that need long-term psychiatric and somatic follow-up. Even though surgery and hormonal therapy alleviates gender dysphoria, it is apparently not sufficient to remedy the high rates of morbidity and mortality found among transsexual persons.

My psychologist brought this study up and wanted my thoughts.  It felt like a bit of a test. 

My initial hunch on this study is that regardless of GCS or not, during the years at which the data was pulled was not a very supportive era. 1973-2003.  The societal pressures on transgender persons, whether the transition is successful or not are immense...."typically" undereducated and underemployed, discrimination on a daily basis, living below the poverty line with little support.  Many are involved in drugs and the sex trades....heck, members on here have even admitted to selling their bodies to get by.  It's not the gender transition that's failed.   I believe they were all in a better spot mentally with their gender post transition, but it was all the other external pressures of being trans in our society that was their failing.

[Kylo]

I find it hard to believe that so many you is, statistically speaking, are more or less doomed to tragedy.

The health professionals I've seen in my time seem to agree we don't exactly have a rosy outlook from the start. However no treatment is even more bleak. It's a rock and a hard place but you take what you can get.

There's also that no study can effectively link things like suicide directly to the condition or to being post-surgery, and not other possible factors.

[Barb99]

My psychologist brought this study up and wanted my thoughts.  It felt like a bit of a test. 

My initial hunch on this study is that regardless of GCS or not, during the years at which the data was pulled was not a very supportive era. 1973-2003.  The societal pressures on transgender persons, whether the transition is successful or not are immense...."typically" undereducated and underemployed, discrimination on a daily basis, living below the poverty line with little support.  Many are involved in drugs and the sex trades....heck, members on here have even admitted to selling their bodies to get by.  It's not the gender transition that's failed.   I believe they were all in a better spot mentally with their gender post transition, but it was all the other external pressures of being trans in our society that was their failing.

I do so much agree with this. With society becoming more accepting it will be interesting to see some studies 20 years from now.
Societal pressures are why I did not transition 35 years ago. I knew I wanted to back in the early 1980's but it scared me to death. I still wonder how I would have done had I gone through with it back then. I'm sure it would have been much more difficult and I probably would have gone stealth which would have kept me out of the statics anyway.

[RobynD]

People in my immediate life have made these arguments to me using largely debunked McHugh information, or "Christian" blogs where people quote statistics with no source and try to show how healthy detransitioning is. They even attempted to point to turmoil in my life as evidence that my path was wrong

Like most have said, they just want to protect their ideology and world view in the face of a fast changing world that is turning against those conclusions.

Since these people were close to me, i tried to respond in a really loving way, despite the fact that they were definitely not being that way to me.

[Michelle_P]

The old McHugh study was flat-out defective.  It made some bad assumptions when they made their "Adjustment Score" of the psychological well-being of post-surgery trans folks.

1) Points were deducted for being in any non-heteronormative relationship.  A MtF lost points if they were married to or dating a woman.  Being attracted to men post-surgery was the acceptable outcome.  This confused gender orientation with gender identity.

2) Contact post-surgery with psychiatric care lost points.  Seeing a therapist regularly lost more points.  Never mind that the standards of care insist on continuing therapy past surgery...

3) Arrests and being jailed counted against the post-surgery transperson.  This in an era where a transgender person could be arrested and jailed on the crime of 'cross-dressing'.   You know, what triggered the Compton's Cafeteria and Stonewall riots...

Even the way that they added up the scores was wildly inconsistent.  It was just a badly designed, poorly executed study.

[Miss Clara]

I thought it was based on the Swedish study: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885

This interview with the paper's author clearly shows that her work has been misrepresented for political/ideological/religious purposes.

http://transadvocate.com/fact-check-study-shows-transition-makes-trans-people-suicidal_n_15483.htm

[RavenMoon]

Don't argue with those people. Also consider that just because someone gets SRS it doesn't mean that they are happy. And the more I venture from a male life to even an androgynous one, I'm struck by how poorly women are treated in general. It can be a bit of a shock!


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[RobynD]

And the more I venture from a male life to even an androgynous one, I'm struck by how poorly women are treated in general. It can be a bit of a shock!


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I here you there, it is even worse than i imagined. There have been some pleasant surprises though too like how well cis-women treat me.

There are a fair amount of studies done on other marginalized populations and the pundits love to point to the woes of those groups to prove some political point or another, when those woes are often the result of being marginalized, mistreated and discriminated against. Its a circular reference. With more equality and progress in society the woes tend to disappear.