Health of Transgender Women: Gynecological, Hormonal, Sexual and Psychological Management

healthtransgenderwomenkapak

PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH AFTER GENDER TRANSITION SURGERY IN TRANSGENDER WOMEN

Hamide Kutlu Cansever

Ağrı Training and Research Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Ağrı, Türkiye

Kutlu Cansever H. Psychological Health After Gender Transition Surgery in Transgender Women. Balsak D, Aksin Ş, eds. Health of Transgender Women: Gynecological, Hormonal, Sexual and Psychological Management. 1st ed. Ankara: Türkiye Klinikleri; 2025. p.271-277.

ABSTRACT

The term “transgender” refers to the incongruence between an individual’s gender identity and the sex assigned at birth. For example, a transgender woman is someone who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman or uses similar terms to describe her gender identity. Transgender individuals constitute approximately 0.5-0.6% of the adult population. However, only a portion of these individuals have undergone gender affirming treatment. Moreover, hormonal or surgical gender affirming treatments for transgender individuals do not only consist of physical or hormonal changes and improvements in gender dysphoria and sexual function; they are also associated with improvements in the individual’s mental health. For instance, the prevalence of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, suicidal ideation and suicide attempts is high in transgender individuals. These mental disorders, which are highly prevalent especially in transgender women, are positively affected by gender affirming treatments. Gender affirming surgeries play a central role in this process. Numerous studies have reported that, following gender affirming surgeries, transgender women generally experience improvements in mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts, as well as increases in self-esteem and quality of life. Therefore, it is crucial for these individuals to have easy access to both psychological support and gender affirming treatments.

Keywords: Sexual and gender disorders; Gender-affirming surgery; Mental disorders

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