Attitudes and methods towards approaching transgenderism (gender dysphoria) as an illness.

[UmQasaan]

The advent of modern medicine has given some of the most important discoveries in the treatment of not only physical illnesses, but a greater understanding of the even newer concept of mental illness. Previously thought to only be treated through exorcisms or physically forcing individuals to become normal (torture), it is better understood that there are certain neurological imbalances that cause such erratic behavior or severe irrationality.

Given this vast assortment of knowledge, it puzzles me that we treat the likes of schizophrenia, bulimia, bipolar, PTSD, and most types of dissociation with proper pharmaceutical and therapeutic medications, but the very notion that a man can be a woman (or vice versa) is "treated" with resounding encouragement and bodily mutilation.

The fact that there is a "scientific" consensus to accept this as the most effective form of treatment is equivalent to seriously acknowledging the credibility of a schizophrenic who claims to be Jesus Christ. It is not only confusing, but deeply angering that there is no broad active research to medicate an illness which seems to be gaining popularity through avid romanticization on social media, often because it is another consequence of the hyper-individualistic culture that has manifested itself.

The mismanagement of characterizing a mental illness as a personality trait is truly despicable, and the main ones to blame are the medical academic community. Not only is the "treatment" extremely invasive, but also ridiculously expensive. That I think is the real reason trannies have not been treated as any other mental illness, because an attempt to cure the issue with a pill and therapy would significantly decrease the profit margins of the very large business of body altering. What do you think?

 

[Apochrypha]

I agree with you mostly. I think that even though gender dysphoria is still considered a mental illness, the only reason they are allowed to butcher themselves and poison their body with meds they don't need is the make more money for the medical industries. Trans people are just pawns for the system - the only thing a surgeon sees when they look at a troon is a giant dollar sign. To me it's no different than a kid with ADHD being forced to take Adderall to keep them quiet little zombies. They're tricked into think that surgery is the only way to be happy with themselves, and once they come to the realization that the world doesn't work that way they kill themselves.

You'd think the only way to get rid of gender dysphoria is to go through therapy and work out your issues, but nowadays psychiatrist operate the same way doctors do and they often times try to urge you to transition and take hormones. It's like there's no way for them to win and they're destined to fail. I'd almost feel sorry for them if troonery didn't come with sexual deviancy and a tendency to rape.

 

[I'm Retarded?]

wait until you find out the chemical-imbalance model of mental illness was started and perpetuated by pill manufacturers, and that even though this supposed empirical, scientific treatment approach is almost useless when it comes to treating chronic symptoms, its methodology has remained largely unchanged since they started mass marketing antidepressants to lonely housewives in the 70s. would it surprise you to know that one of the main culprits is a Sackler?

 

[BBJ_4_Ever]

If you go to the SRS Surgeons and Associated Horrors thread, you'll see how well the mentally ill's dollars are valued even the physical health of the patient is destroyed. There is no "informed consent" possible for the experiments spoilered in that thread. But don't worry, if you have the money, there's always another revision that can be done.

 

[MrsNekrosias]

wait until you find out the chemical-imbalance model of mental illness was started and perpetuated by pill manufacturers, and that even though this supposed empirical, scientific treatment approach is almost useless when it comes to treating chronic symptoms, its methodology has remained largely unchanged since they started mass marketing antidepressants to lonely housewives in the 70s. would it surprise you to know that one of the main culprits is a Sackler?

I actually found it interesting that now, after God knows how many of us have been on SSRIs long term, they're now saying mental illnesses like depression aren't solely due to that issue of chemical imbalance.



I know there's ton of more research to read up on, but it's frustrating to feel like they've been throwing pills at us without caring about the root cause of these mental illnesses, nor caring about the long term side effects from these SSRIs.

 

[Jewthulhu]

Here's a dirty little secret: Medicine is not, never was, and never will be, an exact science. Most treatments and drugs are found by accident, and if a group wants something declared "normal," they've got a decent amount of wiggle room to do it, especially when it involves mental health or neurology.

I actually found it interesting that now, after God knows how many of us have been on SSRIs long term, they're now saying mental illnesses like depression aren't solely due to that issue of chemical imbalance.

View attachment 3733364

I know there's ton of more research to read up on, but it's frustrating to feel like they've been throwing pills at us without caring about the root cause of these mental illnesses, nor caring about the long term side effects from these SSRIs.

Wouldn't surprise me if most mental disorders have structural as well as chemical causes (though plasticity honestly makes both hard to test for). There is something to the chemical theory though, as there's some evidence low-dose ketamine treatments help with drug-resistant depression. Plus, SSRIs were put on market because they were shown to lead to improvement in some cases of depression. They probably didn't even know how they worked when the first ones hit the market.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

The profession of Medicine has pretty much completely died the moment it became dominated by corporations who would rather relieve diseases rather than cure them, and will happily try to cause situations where their products are sold. If any cure is found for a disease it will either be buried (along its creators) and/or sold exclusively to the elites.
Mental health itself is pretty much a lie, no one knows what the fuck the problem of people, and the best solution of "touch grass" is treated as white supremacy movement.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

For sure, the trans shit is a convergence of a number of different interests. Liberal elitist/academic types like it because it cripples the population and creates division/alienates people so they're less threatening to the status quo, the pharmaceutical companies like it because it helps them peddle drugs and surgery, all in all there's a whole lot of (already established) people who can benefit from telling you that if you feel shitty it isn't because their system sucks, it's because your body is wrong and only they can fix it.

I actually found it interesting that now, after God knows how many of us have been on SSRIs long term, they're now saying mental illnesses like depression aren't solely due to that issue of chemical imbalance.

View attachment 3733364

I know there's ton of more research to read up on, but it's frustrating to feel like they've been throwing pills at us without caring about the root cause of these mental illnesses, nor caring about the long term side effects from these SSRIs.

The thing with SSRIs is that if you've ever been on good terms with a mental health professional and bring up the fact that SSRIs aren't really shown to be effective beyond placebo, they'll acknowledge that the effect is mostly in people's heads. In studies we're talking about lessened symptoms in ~45% of participants for placebo, vs. like 51% for SSRIs. Something like that, but it's a small percentage of difference is my grander point.

Of course that presents a dilemma because that still means placebo can be relatively effective especially short term, so if you bring it up with people and they don't believe you then there's no point, and if they do believe you then you just made their medication ineffective and harmed them...except that also means people are paying pharmaceutical companies for ineffectual medication that may as well be sugar pills. I've always just kept my mouth shut and not brought it up.

I'm a bit of a sperg when it comes to lifestyle and diet/supplements/exercise, but I honestly think a lot of the substances that are most helpful in a direct physiological sense aren't complex chemicals, they're derived from natural shit, and that improvement in health works it way up to the psychological level. They make you not only happier, but also healthier.

Except that isn't patentable because it makes it classified as a supplement, and the goal of psychiatric research is primarily to find things they can sell. If they find something naturally occurring that can help there's no profit incentive, and not nearly as much interest, nor do psychiatrists usually bother with it.

 

[The Magnificence]

I actually found it interesting that now, after God knows how many of us have been on SSRIs long term, they're now saying mental illnesses like depression aren't solely due to that issue of chemical imbalance.

View attachment 3733364

I know there's ton of more research to read up on, but it's frustrating to feel like they've been throwing pills at us without caring about the root cause of these mental illnesses, nor caring about the long term side effects from these SSRIs.

Love this. Some of us have been saying for years ppl need to get off the pills and learn personal coping mechanisms/stress management/etc., but we were called all kinds of names for it and told we didn't understand mental illness. Well, the strait jacket is on the other foot now...um...yeah, you know what I mean.

 

[AgendaPoster]

Could write a whole book about this, but it's impossible going into detail without heavy PLing.
I'll say a few generic things though.
Psychiatry, psychology and how we see mental illness are not bound to strict scientific processes, like let's say, removing an inflamed appendix or bolting together a broken femur so it can heal.
These disciplines were always heavily influenced by societal norms, activism and politics. In communist regimes it was rather common to "treat" dissidents as if they were mentally ill, and if they were sane, a week or two of torture would fix that. Just as an example.
In more open, liberal societies, activists have a very poignant impact on these medical fields, as it's incredibly easy to demonize the opposition which wants to "stigmatize" behaviors or medically gatekeep access to some desirable outcome.
There is also a rather more covert, implicit, financial incentive to keep people bound to these systems and medicated, the SRS thread has plenty of example of life patients.
Medicine in the Western world has almost no way to defend itself from activism. It relies on opposition activists to reframe the struggle and win it. The state, abiding by tolerance and inclusion principles, will likely not intervene to set social norms unless there is visible, explicit harm - not that unsimilar with allowing oneself to become an alcoholic failure. We are at the borders of visible harm, but it's still not obvious to liberal states that it's worth doing anything.
TL;DR - medicine won't fix itself when it comes to people's minds; the best path (in the West) is performing counteractivism and winning against the deviant enablers. It will be exceedingly difficult, but not impossible.
Also worth noticing that the troons are not treated the same everywhere, there are places where transitioning is hard and must accomplish lots of criteria, places where you get thrown off building, places where you'll just be considered schizo and be put on sedation.

 

[MrsNekrosias]

Love this. Some of us have been saying for years ppl need to get off the pills and learn personal coping mechanisms/stress management/etc., but we were called all kinds of names for it and told we didn't understand mental illness. Well, the strait jacket is on the other foot now...um...yeah, you know what I mean.

I think if we want to decrease the heavy use of SSRIs, we need to make therapy more affordable and accessible, because right now it's easier and cheaper to get on SSRIs than it is to start attending therapy sessions.

 

[The Magnificence]

I think if we want to decrease the heavy use of SSRIs, we need to make therapy more affordable and accessible, because right now it's easier and cheaper to get on SSRIs than it is to start attending therapy sessions.

Therapy itself has to change, though. Right now it is utilized much like SSRIs: You go to a therapist for life (and thus line their pockets). It should be focused on building the patient up to functioning entirely on their own without support whenever that goal is possible, not focused on making them a monthly or weekly paycheck.

 

[Load Bearing Drywall]

Therapy itself has to change, though. Right now it is utilized much like SSRIs: You go to a therapist for life (and thus line their pockets). It should be focused on building the patient up to functioning entirely on their own without support whenever that goal is possible, not focused on making them a monthly or weekly paycheck.

This is true in the US, but my experience in the EU with therapy has been vastly different. Without PLing I can say that EU/UK overlimits times/sessions and often just goes with 10 sessions of CBT plus low dose antipsychotics as the magic solution to every issue, even with people who are on the mid to mid severe level with multiple disorders but are still somewhat functional.