a bunch of doctors and 'counselors' and activists deserve a proper flogging. Preferably using a flagrum, for what they've done.
During the four years I worked at the clinic as a case manager—I was responsible for patient intake and oversight—around a thousand distressed young people came through our doors. The majority of them received hormone prescriptions that can have life-altering consequences—including sterility.
I left the clinic in November of last year because I could no longer participate in what was happening there. By the time I departed, I was certain that the way the American medical system is treating these patients is the opposite of the promise we make to “do no harm.” Instead, we are permanently harming the vulnerable patients in our care.
Today I am speaking out. I am doing so knowing how toxic the public conversation is around this highly contentious issue—and the ways that my testimony might be misused. I am doing so knowing that I am putting myself at serious personal and professional risk.
Almost everyone in my life advised me to keep my head down. But I cannot in good conscience do so. Because what is happening to scores of children is far more important than my comfort. And what is happening to them is morally and medically appalling.
...
This concerned me, but didn’t feel I was in the position to sound some kind of alarm back then. There was a team of about eight of us, and only one other person brought up the kinds of questions I had. Anyone who raised doubts ran the risk of being called a transphobe.
The girls who came to us had many comorbidities: depression, anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders, obesity. Many were diagnosed with autism, or had autism-like symptoms. A report last year on a British pediatric transgender center found that about one-third of the patients referred there were on the autism spectrum.
Frequently, our patients declared they had disorders that no one believed they had. We had patients who said they had Tourette syndrome (but they didn’t); that they had tic disorders (but they didn’t); that they had multiple personalities (but they didn’t).
The doctors privately recognized these false self-diagnoses as a manifestation of social contagion. They even acknowledged that suicide has an element of social contagion. But when I said the clusters of girls streaming into our service looked as if their gender issues might be a manifestation of social contagion, the doctors said gender identity reflected something innate.
From what I've read, the number of people who actually suffer their brain chemistry and plumbing not matching up is very small; you'd think this sudden rush of "I feel I'm actually a X!" would, by itself, tell the doctors and counselors something; apparently you've got a mix of "I have to support the kid or my career is over!" and true believers, and both of them are involved in the ruined bodies and lives.
2 comments:
The fact the lady who wrote this described herself as left of bernie punctuates how effed up the medical industrial complex has become (not that we couldn't figure that out from the wu-flu fiasco).
Instead of flogging, I propose subjecting those medical 'practitioners' to the same surgeries as their victims, without anesthesia.
-lg
Morbark. The American Guillotine.
Post a Comment