Nearly 45% Of Trans-Identifying People Had ‘Serious Psychological Distress’ In Last Month, Survey Finds

 Close to half of the trans-identifying people polled in a recently released U.S. survey reported having “serious psychological distress” in the previous month.

About 44% of those surveyed said they had experienced serious psychological distress in the last 30 days, according to the U.S. Transgender Survey from the National Center for Transgender Equality, which was conducted in 2022 from October 19 through December 5.

Nearly a third had also been homeless at some point, a preliminary analysis of the survey’s findings released Wednesday revealed.

The survey, which says it is the largest of trans-identifying people in the country to date, polled 92,329 people who identify as transgender or non-binary, including more than 7,000 teens who were 16 and 17, although most of the questions did not include the minors.

For several reasons, the survey cannot be taken to be representative of the U.S. trans-identifying population as a whole. One issue is that it did not poll a random sample, and another is that it skews young — 43% of the adults polled were age 24 or younger.

The study included significantly more biological women than men — 55% were women and 43% were men. Another 2% identified as crossdressers.

About 35% were biological men who identified as women, and 25% were biological women who identified as men. Other than the tiny percentage of crossdressers, the rest identified as non-binary, making that the biggest group at 38%.

The large number of non-binary identities was driven by women. Only 8% were men who identified as non-binary, while 30% were women who identified as such.

The study reported that the vast majority of people, 94%, who lived at least some of their time as their new gender identity, said they were more satisfied with life. Meanwhile, 98% of people who were currently receiving hormone treatments and 97% of people who had received gender surgery said the medical interventions made them more satisfied with life.

However, critics quickly questioned these conclusions, noting that detransitioners, people who identified as transgender but no longer do, were not included.

“This survey examined those who *currently identify as trans* and who sought to participate in a study about that! Detransitioners were definitionally excluded,” journalist Jesse Singal posted on X.

 

Studies have shown that it can take several years for people to regret their gender transitions. One 2022 study found that 30% of more than 950 teens had stopped taking cross-sex hormones after four years.

Among the survey’s teen respondents, 44% reported that their families were supportive of their new gender identities.

Among the adult respondents, nearly a third said they had been homeless at one point, more than a third said they were in poverty, and the unemployment rate among respondents was 18%.

The full report on the survey’s 600 questions is expected later this year.