1/ THREAD: New BIG paper in Nature:

Transgender and gender-diverse individuals were 3.03-6.36 times more likely to be autistic and had elevated rates of multiple other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions than did cis-gender individuals.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17794-1">https://www.nature.com/articles/...

2/ This study has huge clinical implications. Clinicians largely treat gender dysphoria (GD) as an independent condition when in reality it is likely a symptom of many underlying comorbidities that go unaddressed.

3/ Treating GD with the single broad brush of social and (frequently) hormonal as well as surgical transition does not address what may be *causing* GD in the first place.

However, due to "conversion therapy" laws being extended to include GD, physicians are often not allowed...

4/ to explore these underlying and co-occurring psychiatric conditions. Instead, law often requires doctors to "affirm" the patient& #39;s self-reported gender identity, which only solidifies GD and places individuals on a path to irreversible surgeries and permanent infertility.

5/ These people deserve proper care and treatment, which *may* ultimately require transitioning, but also requires exploring myriad potential underlying causes that may be treated to help ameliorate GD without invasive treatment.

6/ The politicization of trans issues is preventing this vulnerable group from receiving proper evidence-based treatment.

I hope this study helps shine a giant spotlight on this problem.

https://twitter.com/SwipeWright/status/1293594775849902081?s=20">https://twitter.com/SwipeWrig...