The Disturbing Link Between Eating Disorders and Trans-identification
By Genspect
Tragedy and Travesty in New Zealand
Ruth Hill of RNZ this week reported the heartbreaking story of a 17-year-old girl, known as “Vanessa,” who tragically died of starvation in January 2023, alone in a locked motel room in New Zealand’s South Island. She weighed just 26 kilograms (57 pounds) at the time of her death. Vanessa, by all accounts a highly intelligent and sensitive young woman, had suffered from severe anorexia for years, which her parents believe was triggered by the trauma of being sexually molested by an older child at age five. From the age of 12 onward, her parents, doctors, and the courts struggled together to keep her alive—until she began identifying as a boy at age 15. That’s when everything changed. Vanessa and those meant to support her adopted the belief that her parents, by not affirming her identity as a boy, were uncaring bigots who deserved to be cut off. Read the whole story here.
Diagnostic Overshaddowing
In the realm of so called “gender medicine”, diagnostic overshadowing is a serious issue. The rush to affirm a transgender identity can obscure critical mental health conditions and comorbidities like OCD, borderline personality disorder, or the lingering effects of trauma. Eating disorders like anorexia, are a significant concern, as they share a common thread with the diagnosis of gender dysphoria that is, a hatred of one’s body. It is no coincidence that they often afflict the same group of vulnerable young women. When gender identity becomes the sole lens through which care is provided, these underlying issues risk being overlooked, leaving young women without the holistic support they need. Is it ever right to affirm or medicalize a body dysmorphia, whether it manifests as an eating disorder or gender dysphoria?
Read more from Genspect about the disturbing overlap between trans identification and eating disorders:
- Trans Identification and Eating Disorders: Eliza Mondegreen asks if trans identification is the next iteration of anorexia.
- Affirming Anorexia: What happens when affirming gender means affirming anorexia? by Eliza Mondegreen.
- Permanent Decisions, Temporary Relief: Alasdair Gunn explores the psychological motivations behind body modification in gender dysphoria.
- A Parent Responds to TIME: An anonymous parent disputes a TIME article’s use of a flawed Trevor Project survey.
Also check out Eliza’s 2024 session on the teen body modification at the Lisbon Bigger Picture Conference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqrdj4sVpd4&t=1s&ab_channel=Genspect