Britain's National Health Service will no longer be dispensing puberty blockers to youngsters with gender-identity disorder or other forms of sexual confusion. Researchers are finding what they call "gaps in the evidence" that the drugs are effective in treating gender identity disorder and gender-related distress.
Psychologist Dr. Joseph Gunthrie of the Christian Medical Association says not only is the effectiveness questionable, it is permanent and harmful.
"It's no surprise that the data is showing that prescribing puberty blockers – rushing to affirming medications or surgeries – is actually resulting in increased suicides and worsening mental health for children and adults," Gunthrie tells AFN.
Research also shows that most children will grow out of their distress as they get older. Dr. Gunthrie says interventions should be working toward that goal. "We should be supporting these children, these teenagers, these families – and we should really be providing them access to high-quality mental health care," the psychologist adds.
That way, he says, children "can go on to live flourishing, fruitful lives without the risk of permanent sterility, cardiovascular disorders, [and] endocrine disorders, as well as the exacerbation, rather than the treatment and alleviation, of their mental health symptoms."
Gunthrie contends it shouldn't take a peer-reviewed study to show that giving hormones or disfiguring surgeries to confused young children is a bad idea. "Most doctors do know better than that," he concludes. "But of course this is 2024 – and common sense is [considered equivalent to] a superpower."
