A Cry for Help

Rates of attempted suicide among the transgender population is staggering. The National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS), conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and National Center for Transgender Equality, showed that the percentage of transgender adults who had attempted suicide was 41%. Suicide attempts by transgender men were more severe at 46% while transgender women were at 42%. These numbers are higher than the average since individuals who were assigned male at birth reported a suicide attempt rate of about 21%.

Compare these numbers to other sections of the population. Attempted suicide rates among gay, lesbian, and bisexual adults are between 10 and 20%. These numbers exceed the 4.6% rate of the total U.S. population.

What are the factors that are behind these numbers?

One of the most important aspects of a person is their identity. But what if there is an intense internal struggle related to that identity?  Your body is telling you one thing, but every everything else is telling you otherwise. The mind has a tough time trying to reconcile these issues.  When you present the mind with problems it cannot reconcile, it can lead to issues of anxiety and depression. A lack of reconciliation can leave a person with no real sense of identity. They play a role based on who they think they are supposed to be. They play a character based on who their family, friends, co-workers, and church thinks and tells them who they are supposed to be.

Internal conflicts can cause significant issues with one psyche. As if it were not enough to have internal disputes, trans people, especially kids and young adults, are often bullied and stigmatized based solely on who they are. Transgender people are also dealing with how they are presented in the media with a significant focus on what bathroom people should be allowed to use. Can you imagine the internal conflict going on while you are trying to figure out who you are, you are now being dictated to as to which bathroom you can use.

The feeling of confusion and degradation are entirely overwhelming.

TransNewYork is here to provide counseling services to transgender people as well as their families. We enable individuals to accept who they are resolving the conflicts that are being fought internally while learning how to deal with the issues presented externally.