TORONTO — Researchers say serious mental health disorders and thoughts of suicide are more prevalent among people who are transgender or gender diverse in Canada.
Their study published recently in the journal JAMA Network Open found transgender participants were three times more likely to meet the criteria for depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and social phobia than cisgender people.
They were also three times more likely to have had serious thoughts of suicide and six times more likely to have attempted it during their lifetime.
Senior author Ian Coleman, an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa, says the results show a need to better support people as they express their gender identity, including more gender-affirming health care.
Coleman also says society should be more supportive and tolerant and ensure transgender and gender diverse people feel safe in schools and in the community.
The population-based study analyzed responses to the most recent Statistics Canada Mental Health and Access to Care survey, which included people 15 years of age and older.
The StatCan response rate was 25 per cent, resulting in a sample of 9,861 people. Fifty-two of them were transgender or gender diverse.
"I think this is one of those cases where the numbers kind of speak for themselves," Coleman said Wednesday.
"When you just see these exceptionally high rates of poor mental health and suicidality in this population, this is a crisis and these people need support.”
Disparities in mental health might be explained by "minority stress theory," the authors said in the study, published Oct. 2.
That means "the experience of prejudice and negative social experiences by members of historically stigmatized groups can have substantial impacts on both physical and mental health," they said.
Dr. Sarah Fraser, a family doctor who runs a gender-affirming clinic in Halifax, said the study results were "unfortunately not surprising."
"In my clinical practice, it is clear that trans and diverse individuals have higher rates of mental health issues like depression, anxiety and suicidal thinking among others," Fraser, who was not involved in the study, said in an email to The Canadian Press.
"My trans patients have told me that they are followed, harassed, yelled at, or even physically assaulted just for being who they are. I hear this every single day," she said.
The StatCan survey took place between March and July in 2022 — the first year it asked questions about gender identity.
The researchers compared participants' reported gender identity with their sex assigned at birth to identify transgender and gender diverse participants.
Potential limitations include the small number of transgender people in the sample, the authors said, but they noted the results were in line with other studies about use of mental health services among transgender people.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press
