It is hard to get your head around the medical profession's failure, but it can help to remember that similar failures have happened in the recent past. Consider Oxycontin and the non-evidence based statement that people with chronic pain don't become addicted to opioids, which dominated clinical medicine for years. Unfortunately, it appears that medical practice can be shaped by advocates, be they pharmaceutical companies or activists. The term "evidenced based" was only introduced in medicine in the 90's, and apparently it still needs some work. Virginia Dale, MD
I would add that, as a parent of a trans-identified daughter, who has been down this rabbit hole for 4.5 years, researching, writing and thinking about these issues, I am grateful to all of you, and the others in this fight - too many others to name. You have all given me a feeling of sanity and calm and community (even though I don’t actually know you) in the midst of the craziest thing I have personally witnessed in my entire life.
My hope for 2024 is to see a real hope that this blight on history is coming to an end, and that no more young vulnerable people will suffer wholly unnecessary harm.
Look up body dysmorphic disorder. Just because someone wants plastic surgery doesn't mean they will benefit or that a surgeon will simply do it. Surgeons are not supposed to operate on those with body dysmorphic disorder because they generally get worse. Only a small small fraction, who tend to be mild cases, improve. Most either simply deteriorate after some time, including to the point of suicide, or start fixating on another part of the body. I don't know how one determines a patient does not have it but it seems relevant.
The biggest obstacle to getting the real cracks in the facade is not the true believer/zealot/activist people, but the average person who thinks this all comes down to the suicide threat. It is going to be EXTREMELY hard to get people to take what they see as a very serious and dangerous risk of being willing to question the suicide narrative. I want to talk to a hard-core woman who is a Democrat who admitted that she was very concerned that many of these girls were not really trans and that it was a social contagion and mental health issues. But then she went on to say that you have to transition them even if you doubt that it's the best thing for them in the long run because otherwise they might commit suicide. I think there are a lot of people who think this way. I don't know how we get past the us because if you truly believe the suicide narrative and think that anything and everything should be on the table to prevent it in the short term no matter what the long-term consequences are, it's going to be really hard to get people to get past that
Here's the trans widow perspective, so often missing in this discussion. Clementine, #56 in my data set of women who left suddenly crossdressing husbands, was gaslit and violently assaulted (off and on, he did it in waves for years) and (of course) he tried to get the infant he fathered to suckle at his nipples, after he attempted to enlarge them with clips. The picture of this fetish will only be completed with trans widows' voices.
It is hard to get your head around the medical profession's failure, but it can help to remember that similar failures have happened in the recent past. Consider Oxycontin and the non-evidence based statement that people with chronic pain don't become addicted to opioids, which dominated clinical medicine for years. Unfortunately, it appears that medical practice can be shaped by advocates, be they pharmaceutical companies or activists. The term "evidenced based" was only introduced in medicine in the 90's, and apparently it still needs some work. Virginia Dale, MD
I would add that, as a parent of a trans-identified daughter, who has been down this rabbit hole for 4.5 years, researching, writing and thinking about these issues, I am grateful to all of you, and the others in this fight - too many others to name. You have all given me a feeling of sanity and calm and community (even though I don’t actually know you) in the midst of the craziest thing I have personally witnessed in my entire life.
My hope for 2024 is to see a real hope that this blight on history is coming to an end, and that no more young vulnerable people will suffer wholly unnecessary harm.
Look up body dysmorphic disorder. Just because someone wants plastic surgery doesn't mean they will benefit or that a surgeon will simply do it. Surgeons are not supposed to operate on those with body dysmorphic disorder because they generally get worse. Only a small small fraction, who tend to be mild cases, improve. Most either simply deteriorate after some time, including to the point of suicide, or start fixating on another part of the body. I don't know how one determines a patient does not have it but it seems relevant.
This is a must listen for anyone wanting a little history on the trans awareness among professionals.
The biggest obstacle to getting the real cracks in the facade is not the true believer/zealot/activist people, but the average person who thinks this all comes down to the suicide threat. It is going to be EXTREMELY hard to get people to take what they see as a very serious and dangerous risk of being willing to question the suicide narrative. I want to talk to a hard-core woman who is a Democrat who admitted that she was very concerned that many of these girls were not really trans and that it was a social contagion and mental health issues. But then she went on to say that you have to transition them even if you doubt that it's the best thing for them in the long run because otherwise they might commit suicide. I think there are a lot of people who think this way. I don't know how we get past the us because if you truly believe the suicide narrative and think that anything and everything should be on the table to prevent it in the short term no matter what the long-term consequences are, it's going to be really hard to get people to get past that
Here's the trans widow perspective, so often missing in this discussion. Clementine, #56 in my data set of women who left suddenly crossdressing husbands, was gaslit and violently assaulted (off and on, he did it in waves for years) and (of course) he tried to get the infant he fathered to suckle at his nipples, after he attempted to enlarge them with clips. The picture of this fetish will only be completed with trans widows' voices.
https://wordpress.com/post/uteheggengrasswidow.wordpress.com/6568
I would like to speed up the podcast....but I don't see how and the 3 dots on the lower right hand side that are supposed to pop up, don't pop up.
Great conversation, thanks for the roundup. I look forward to Ben’s book and hope that Jamie’s optimism is warranted!
The opening line references The Grateful Dead / Jerry Garcia, “What a Long Strange Trip It's Been”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_a_Long_Strange_Trip_It%27s_Been