Hormonal
Gender-affirming hormone therapy significantly reduces mental health morbidity, including depression and anxiety, in transgender individuals.
If you are transgender and experiencing significant distress related to your gender identity, accessing gender-affirming hormone therapy under medical supervision is strongly associated with significant improvements in mental health, including reduced depression and anxiety. While physical risks exist, they should be managed through careful monitoring and appropriate medication selection (e.g., transdermal estrogen for those at high thrombotic risk), as the mental health benefits are substantial.
Long-term follow-up studies and studies involving large groups of people are needed to evaluate whether these improvements remain. Hence, hormone treatment of those wanting physical change needs to be accessible, as this will reduce morbidity and improve quality of life of transgender people.
Why this rating
Based on multiple longitudinal studies from Europe showing significant improvement, though the authors note a need for more long-term/large group studies.
Source
Endocrinology of Transgender Medicine
Guy T’Sjoen et al. · Endocrine Reviews · 2018
DOI 10.1210/er.2018-00011
More from this paper
- Transfeminine hormone therapy (estrogen + antiandrogens) induces feminizing physical changes including breast development, fat redistribution, and reduced body/facial hair, but does not significantly alter voice pitch.Good
- Transfeminine hormone therapy is associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), particularly with oral ethinyl estradiol or conjugated equine estrogen, whereas transdermal estradiol may mitigate this risk.Moderate
- Testosterone therapy in transgender men is associated with virilization (deepening voice, increased muscle mass, cessation of menses) and is considered safe regarding cardiovascular and oncological disease in the short- to mid-term.Moderate
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