Most trans kids are suicidal or practicing self harm already which is exactly why doctors say this.
No doctor will ever tell you this unless your kid is at risk of self harm or death, already.
First off, it isn’t just doctors who say this. People on the streets or on social media shout down friends and family with hostage situation language like this. This also sets up vulnerable people to say it to those who disagree with it, or even worse, reframes suicide as an acceptable response if their friends and family argue against the treatment.
Second, someone should never tell someone else, “you are going to kill yourself unless you do what I tell you.” This goes double when the other person is already in a vulnerable state, and quadruple when the person saying this is in a position of authority. People often kill themselves because they believe there are no other options, and telling them that only cements the “no way out” problem in their minds.
Third, we often tell people who are suicidal not to seek out permanent solutions to temporary problems - like committing suicide because of current mental troubles or life problems. Telling an at-risk individual to get medications and surgeries that irreversibly change their body is a clear-cut case of a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The woman in the article is so distraught by her double masectomy she felt pressured to get that she’s now suing the people who convinced her to go through with it. Even if this only happens to a minority of people, we shouldn’t accept situations like this as “acceptable losses” or anything of the sort.
Fourth, if someone is at serious risk of ending their life, they should be in the emergency room, not arguing over medical procedures with their parents. That’s an extremely volatile situation and hanging the threat over parents’ heads of finding their child’s corpse is a severely wrong approach.
Would you tell someone with severe depression “you will kill yourself if you don’t take SSRIs and get X surgery”? Would you say the same about stimulants to someone with ADHD? Or about antipsychotics to people with bipolar or schizophrenia? Is it acceptable for someone to threaten suicide to maintain a romantic/friendly relationship with someone who doesn’t want it anymore?
First off, it isn’t just doctors who say this. People on the streets or on social media shout down friends and family with hostage situation language like this. This also sets up vulnerable people to say it to those who disagree with it, or even worse, reframes suicide as an acceptable response if their friends and family argue against the treatment.
Second, someone should never tell someone else, “you are going to kill yourself unless you do what I tell you.” This goes double when the other person is already in a vulnerable state, and quadruple when the person saying this is in a position of authority. People often kill themselves because they believe there are no other options, and telling them that only cements the “no way out” problem in their minds.
Third, we often tell people who are suicidal not to seek out permanent solutions to temporary problems - like committing suicide because of current mental troubles or life problems. Telling an at-risk individual to get medications and surgeries that irreversibly change their body is a clear-cut case of a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The woman in the article is so distraught by her double masectomy she felt pressured to get that she’s now suing the people who convinced her to go through with it. Even if this only happens to a minority of people, we shouldn’t accept situations like this as “acceptable losses” or anything of the sort.
Fourth, if someone is at serious risk of ending their life, they should be in the emergency room, not arguing over medical procedures with their parents. That’s an extremely volatile situation and hanging the threat over parents’ heads of finding their child’s corpse is a severely wrong approach.
Would you tell someone with severe depression “you will kill yourself if you don’t take SSRIs and get X surgery”? Would you say the same about stimulants to someone with ADHD? Or about antipsychotics to people with bipolar or schizophrenia? Is it acceptable for someone to threaten suicide to maintain a romantic/friendly relationship with someone who doesn’t want it anymore?