So, earlier while perusing my Twitter feed, I came across an interesting YouTube video of a young woman who had previously began transitioning to a man, but was now in the process of de-transitioning. The video rambles a bit but is worth a watch. Why? This young woman, I think, should never had been allowed to begin hewr transition at all.  You xan watch the vide, here.

It’s easy to see in the begning that her transition decision was not due to gender dysphoria but more because of being confused about herself at the age of fifteen. I think all of us, if we can remember, how chaotic our early teenage years were. We all, boys and girls go through a lot of changes, physical and mental, not to mention the addition of social pressure. We are all trying to define who we are during those early years. The problem I have here is how this young woman, based on her story in the video, was ever allowed to begin transition? It seems to me that any professional would be able to tell she was not gender dysphoric. Just listen to the part of the video where she speaks about her six months in therapy. It made me wonder whether this “therapist” was even qualified to make that determination and really, isn’t it important, at any age, for the therapist to be able to correctly diagnose a patient?

I recall, when I was diagnosed with PTSD, when I decided to get help, I found a therapist that had been working with veterans for over twenty years. She knew what PTSD was and how it presented. She didn’t immediately make a diagnosis, only after over of month of weekly sessions – and this woman was experienced! So what happens to someone who may believe they have gender dysphoria that sees someone that, as it appeared in the video, had zero experience or knowledge in that area? Honestly, if my daughter came to me and told me she felt like she was a boy and had felt that way for a while, I’d look for the most experienced  person. in the field, Wouldn’t anyone? I ask that because this is a consequential decision in a life and needs someone with knowledge and experience to make a proper diagnosis.

As I’m writing, I’m thinking of the stories I’ve read in the past of people who’ve transitioned that later regretted it, sometimes to tragic ends. I haven’y read a lot of those stories, but I would say it’s a handful and even one, to me, is too many. I guess that in this case that I’m referring to, it’s good that this young woman had not gone through any of the surgeries to become a man. It is only when, by her own endeavor, to finally become happy with her own body that she realized that she was in fact a woman. Yes, as she states, she’ll probably have to live with some of the effects of having taken testosterone for  several years, but, beyond that, she appears a healthy woman.

I don’t blame her. She was a kid when all of this started and for me, it is the adults, especially the therapist, that should have been able to put a stop on her transition before it started. But it takes a person with a level of knowledge to know and it seems that this young woman didn’t not receive that help. I think we need better oversight in this area. Just as someone that’s never had experience with PTSD, or any other disorder, making a false diagnosis could end tragically for the patient.