The rate of self-reported mental distress and depression among American adults who identify as transgender and non-binary has more than doubled between 2014 and 2022, an analysis of federal health data has revealed.
"A record number of enacted laws has threatened the rights and protections of TGD people, including restricting access to gender-affirming care and permitting discrimination in public accommodations," a team of researchers led by healthcare policy investigator Michael Liu, of the Harvard Medical School noted.
The findings of this data, been published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, tracked numbers from the federal government’s ongoing Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance System, which follows the self-reported physical and mental health of US adults over time.
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According to Liu, the analysis began in 2014 – when for the first time gender identity was added to the survey and tracked data through 2022.
Liu said his team found that the prevalence of frequent mental distress increased from 18.8 per cent in 2014 to 38.9 per cent in 2022 among transgender or gender-diverse people. However, among cisgender people, the rise in mental distress was less steep – from 11.2 per cent to 15.5 per cent.
According to the data, depression rates among transgender adults also rose sharply between the same time – more than doubling from 19.7 per cent to 51.3 per cent. Over the same time period, depression rates among cisgender adults rose only slightly, from 18.6 per cent to 21.1 per cent.
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How was the physical health affected?
During the study period, Lui said his team also saw diverse changes in the percentage of transgender and gender-diverse adults – who rated their health as just fair or poor – going from 26.6 per cent to 35.1 per cent, while that number remained stable at just over 17 per cent among cisgender people.
Experts believe there have been many state bills that explicitly targeted transgender and nonbinary populations, proposed in 2023 and 2024, which are among the reasons behind the surge in the data.
There are more than 1.6 million transgender and nonbinary people in the US.
Mental health experts believe that increasing stigma among the group means transgenders are not just dealing with daily assaults on mental health, but also have grave issues regarding the deliberate misuse of pronouns, problems around access to toilets, discrimination at work, and even acts of violence.
Experts believe the situation is not going to get better anytime soon.