It would seem that the massive increase in young people opting for these procedures would lead to fundamental differences in the population that undergoes them. Assuming your understanding is based on long-term studies done before this massive increase occurred, the effects they found are likely to differ in this now fundamentally different population. Given that the currently skyrocketing rates are largely a phenomenon of the past 5 years, that assumption is almost certainly true.
As one example of such differences that we know of for certain, the ratio of patients seeking these procedures who are male vs. female has shifted massively from before the past 5 years. Even ignoring all the observed differences, the simple fact that it was once much harder to access treatment would mean those observed in older studies would be more motivated or certain of their condition, on average, than patients undergoing treatment today.
In the same period, hospitals saw an influx of patients of the same age who believed they had symptoms of Tourettes (https://www.wsj.com/articles/teen-girls-are-developing-tics-...). Johns Hopkins estimated this included up to 20% of their pediatric patients, compared to 2-3% just 2 years earlier. Much like the rise in transgender minors, this was strongly concentrated in young females with other mental health issues who had been exposed to "Tourettes content" on social media. This is despite Tourettes being about 3x more common in males prior to the recent explosion in cases.
There are clearly people who genuinely benefit from surgical/hormonal treatments for gender dysphoria. In any case, adults without major psychiatric issues have the right to most hormonal and/or cosmetic procedures should they wish to get them.
It's still worrying how vehemently many activists oppose any questioning of such a massive rise in minors seeking life-altering treatments and implicitly or explicitly promising vulnerable kids that such treatments are the solution for their problems.
As one example of such differences that we know of for certain, the ratio of patients seeking these procedures who are male vs. female has shifted massively from before the past 5 years. Even ignoring all the observed differences, the simple fact that it was once much harder to access treatment would mean those observed in older studies would be more motivated or certain of their condition, on average, than patients undergoing treatment today.
In the same period, hospitals saw an influx of patients of the same age who believed they had symptoms of Tourettes (https://www.wsj.com/articles/teen-girls-are-developing-tics-...). Johns Hopkins estimated this included up to 20% of their pediatric patients, compared to 2-3% just 2 years earlier. Much like the rise in transgender minors, this was strongly concentrated in young females with other mental health issues who had been exposed to "Tourettes content" on social media. This is despite Tourettes being about 3x more common in males prior to the recent explosion in cases.
There are clearly people who genuinely benefit from surgical/hormonal treatments for gender dysphoria. In any case, adults without major psychiatric issues have the right to most hormonal and/or cosmetic procedures should they wish to get them.
It's still worrying how vehemently many activists oppose any questioning of such a massive rise in minors seeking life-altering treatments and implicitly or explicitly promising vulnerable kids that such treatments are the solution for their problems.