U.K. report: Halting puberty blockers DOES NOT increase suicide ideation in gender-confused youth
A recent independent review has found no evidence that halting the prescription of puberty blockers to transgender-identifying children leads to a significant rise in suicides.
Appleby, a professor of psychiatry and experienced suicide researcher from the University of Manchester, was tasked by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting to scrutinize the evidence following claims by LGBT activists that suicide rates were escalating due to restrictions on puberty blockers implemented in 2020.
The review, which covered data from NHS England on suicide patients at the Tavistock and Portman clinic from 2018 to 2019 and 2023 to 2024, only found 12 suicides. Five in the three years leading up to 2020 to 2021 and seven in the three years afterward. For those under 18, there were three suicides before and three after 2020 to 2021.
Appleby concluded that there is no substantial evidence to support the claim of a large rise in suicides among young gender dysphoria patients at the Tavistock and Portman clinic. The discussion of this issue on social media has been insensitive, distressing and dangerous, contradicting guidelines on the safe reporting of suicide.
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Public claims regarding suicide rates do not meet basic standards for statistical evidence. It is crucial to move away from the notion that access to puberty blockers is the primary marker of non-judgmental acceptance in healthcare for gender dysphoric youth.
Moreover, Appleby noted that trans activists’ rhetoric about suicidality could inadvertently harm gender-confused children. The irresponsible assertions that puberty blockers are essential to prevent inevitable suicides could lead to adolescents mimicking this behavior.
“These numbers do not show a statistically significant difference,” Appleby stated in his report. He also stressed the need for careful interpretation of small data sets, while ensuring high-quality data collection to improve the safety of these children.
The new analysis, led by professor of psychology and sociology Susan McPherson of the University of Essexand retired social scientist David Freedman, indicates that 34 percent of children experienced a “reliable deterioration” in mental health after taking puberty-blocking drugs, while 37 percent saw no change and only 29 percent showed “reliable improvement.”
This contrasts sharply with the 2011 study, which claimed “no changes in psychological function” after the treatment. The initial analysis was based on group averages from questionnaires given to children and their parents, whereas the recent analysis focused on individual results. McPherson and Freedman claimed that their methodology offers a “greater indication as to variation across participants,” providing a more nuanced understanding of the treatment’s impact.
“This complementary analytic approach allows us to look at how a treatment is performing in terms of the percentage of patients improving, deteriorating and showing clinically significant change,” the researchers said at the time. “It is possible, using this approach, to look at patterns, such as who is benefitting and who is not. We recommend that these approaches be incorporated into new GD [gender dysphoria] services being established in the U.K. as well as new research studies being designed.”
Head over to GenderConfused.com for more stories about gender-related medical interventions.
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