The American Journal of Psychiatry & The Sound of Silence

By JL

In October 2019 The American Journal of Psychiatry published a study by Dr Richard Bränström and Dr John E Pachankis which examined the effects of sex reassignment surgery on the mental health of trans people.

The results of this study seemed to show that surgery improves the mental health of those with body dysphoria. Tweeting on 4th October the Journal stated it “lends support to the decision to provide gender-affirming surgeries to those who seek them.”

Journals of The American Psychiatric Association @APAPubJournals

This first total population study of #transgender individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria lends support to the decision to provide gender-affirming surgeries to those who seek them. bit.ly/2nd22Cn @SBS_Yale @YaleSPH @karolinskainst

However, last week, the Journal issued a correction. It said that, contrary to previous claims, sex-reassignment surgery provides no benefit to mental health.

“Some letters containing questions on the statistical methodology employed in the study led the Journal to seek statistical consultations. The results of these consultations were presented to the study authors, who concurred with many of the points raised. Upon request, the authors reanalyzed the data to compare outcomes between individuals diagnosed with gender incongruence who had received gender-affirming surgical treatments and those diagnosed with gender incongruence who had not… The results demonstrated no advantage of surgery in relation to subsequent mood or anxiety disorder-related health care visits or prescriptions or hospitalizations following suicide attempts in that comparison.”

AssignedMother@Birth @MindfullMoms

@APAPubJournals @SBS_Yale @YaleSPH @karolinskainst The original abstract remains public yet the letters of dissent and the correction is paywalled. That is not fair. People need access to the arguements.

The original article has not been retracted; the study’s summation, with the inaccurate and misleading conclusion, remains available to view without subscription on the Journal’s website. The tiny bar reading “This article has been corrected” is easy to miss!

Initially, the correction was also under a paywall but, after Twitter users challenged this policy, the correction has been made available to non-subscribers.

Eliot Simon @mariedegournay1

@APAPubJournals @SBS_Yale @YaleSPH @karolinskainst Astounding and unethical to put the correction behind a paywall, APA.

Similarly, whilst the letters to the editor which challenged the findings of the original study have finally been published (why did that take so long?), they remain behind a paywall. Nevertheless, their titles are an indication of the content.

When the Bränström and Pachankis study was first published in the Journal last October, it was celebrated by media outlets, trans groups and educational establishments etc. The likes of NBC News, Newsweek and Reuters all reported on it.

Yale School of Public Health @YaleSPH

#MentalHealth Outcomes Improve for Transgender Individuals After Surgery, Study Finds. Read more about this research:

publichealth.yale.eduMental Health Outcomes Improve for Transgender Individuals After Surgery, Study FindsTransgender individuals who undergo gender-affirming surgery are significantly less likely to seek mental health treatment for depression and anxiety disorders or attempt suicide in the years following the procedure, new research led by the Yale School of Public Health finds.

The question is, where are these people now?

Why is the correction not being discussed in the mainstream media and the correct findings broadcast in the same way as the original?

It’s all gone very quiet.