Psychology of Gender Transgendered Identity: Issues in Mental Health and Questions of Diagnosis.
This paper discusses the issue of transgendered people and looks at the studies of Wison and Hammond 1996 and Kreiss and Patterson 1997. People who identify as "transgendered" are recognized by the mental health community in two significantly disparate categories. Wilson and Hammond identify transgendered youth as "at-risk" for a multitude of physical, emotional, and social health problems. They state that during the past decade, there is ample documentation of how these youth have a higher-than-average rates of depression, suicide attempts, substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, school failure, family rejection, and homelessness. This raises an important question about desire, choice, and how these are regulated by psychological and psychiatric authorities, and the implications of this persistent regulation of sexuality and gender. 7 pgs. 19 f/c. 10b.
