Katie O'Connor
@koconnorreports.bsky.social
Mental health reporter; Senior Writer with Psychiatric News, focusing on mental health advocacy; Previously with Virginia Mercury, Richmond Times-Dispatch
Signal: kdoconnor.17
Signal: kdoconnor.17
I think APA issued a great response to the letter. "Gender-affirming care, in its many forms, is a treatment option that has been shown to help patients with gender dysphoria."
Read the letter and APA's response here: psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
Read the letter and APA's response here: psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
April 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I think APA issued a great response to the letter. "Gender-affirming care, in its many forms, is a treatment option that has been shown to help patients with gender dysphoria."
Read the letter and APA's response here: psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
Read the letter and APA's response here: psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
The study found that most breast reduction surgeries among minors were performed on cisgender males.
This makes me wonder what the issue is really about - are we really worried about youth getting surgeries? Seems the concerns are misplaced, if so.
This makes me wonder what the issue is really about - are we really worried about youth getting surgeries? Seems the concerns are misplaced, if so.
April 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The study found that most breast reduction surgeries among minors were performed on cisgender males.
This makes me wonder what the issue is really about - are we really worried about youth getting surgeries? Seems the concerns are misplaced, if so.
This makes me wonder what the issue is really about - are we really worried about youth getting surgeries? Seems the concerns are misplaced, if so.
A Harvard news release issued with that study noted that, "The study also found that cisgender minors and adults had substantially higher utilization of analogous gender-affirming surgeries than their TGD counterparts."
hsph.harvard.edu/news/gender-...
hsph.harvard.edu/news/gender-...
April 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
A Harvard news release issued with that study noted that, "The study also found that cisgender minors and adults had substantially higher utilization of analogous gender-affirming surgeries than their TGD counterparts."
hsph.harvard.edu/news/gender-...
hsph.harvard.edu/news/gender-...
Let's add context instead of using raw numbers. A 2024 study found that, in 2019, the rate of youth who had gender-affirming surgery was 2.1 per 100,000 minors aged 15 to 17; 0.1 per 100,000 minors aged 13 to 14; and 0 among minors aged 12 or younger. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
April 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Let's add context instead of using raw numbers. A 2024 study found that, in 2019, the rate of youth who had gender-affirming surgery was 2.1 per 100,000 minors aged 15 to 17; 0.1 per 100,000 minors aged 13 to 14; and 0 among minors aged 12 or younger. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
The author takes issue with my claim in the story that “surgeries are very rare among youth," claiming the reader should be the judge. The letter cites a 2023 study that 3,678 minors (aged 12 to 18) had gender-affirming care surgeries between 2016 and 2020.
April 29, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The author takes issue with my claim in the story that “surgeries are very rare among youth," claiming the reader should be the judge. The letter cites a 2023 study that 3,678 minors (aged 12 to 18) had gender-affirming care surgeries between 2016 and 2020.
Read the full story here: psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
April 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Read the full story here: psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...
If the administration really wants to curtail Medicaid’s and Medicare’s budgets, it would be better served by making the small investments in system improvement that SAMHSA leads—as opposed to continuing the inefficient ways that mental health services are delivered, said said Michael Flaum, M.D.
April 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
If the administration really wants to curtail Medicaid’s and Medicare’s budgets, it would be better served by making the small investments in system improvement that SAMHSA leads—as opposed to continuing the inefficient ways that mental health services are delivered, said said Michael Flaum, M.D.
“I am very concerned that these severe and relapsing chronic diseases of serious mental illness and substance use disorder... will get lost in the jockeying for priority that will occur as this new entity takes shape,” Elinore McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., who led SAMHSA during the first Trump term.
April 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
“I am very concerned that these severe and relapsing chronic diseases of serious mental illness and substance use disorder... will get lost in the jockeying for priority that will occur as this new entity takes shape,” Elinore McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., who led SAMHSA during the first Trump term.
Much of the recent progress related to mental health and substance use achieved over the last several years has been thanks in large part to SAMHSA, said Margie Balfour, M.D., Ph.D. “It felt like they had hit their stride. To go backwards puts everything they’ve accomplished at risk.”
April 24, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Much of the recent progress related to mental health and substance use achieved over the last several years has been thanks in large part to SAMHSA, said Margie Balfour, M.D., Ph.D. “It felt like they had hit their stride. To go backwards puts everything they’ve accomplished at risk.”