More than half of trans people worldwide have poor mental health, poll finds

Maxine Heron was once told that her work as a model would dry up – fast – because of her ‘lifestyle choices’. She had just come out as trans.

Maxine, 30, came out in 2018. Soon enough, she found her agency agent chalking up her year-long booking dry spell to being a ‘trans thing’.

‘I transitioned 14 years ago and all I’ve witnessed since then is a system which increasingly has set trans people up to fail,’ she tells Metro.

Maxine’s life is different today – she does comms work for a trans-led charity, is half of a queer podcast and, of course, is thriving as a model.

But she’s the first to admit that not all trans people can say this. ‘It is literally a miracle when any one of us is able to thrive in the face of this adversity,’ she adds.

‘Being an adult is hard enough as it is, and it becomes even more challenging when navigating life without the blueprint offered to the other 99% of society.’

So Maxine, it was safe to say, wasn’t surprised by a report released today that found over half of trans people experience poor or very poor mental health. Seven in 10 trans people worldwide have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, the most common including depression and anxiety.

The findings by the LGBTQ+ mental health app Voda showed that trans people across the world face a raft of challenges. Among them, gender dysphoria (79.8%), anxiety about social acceptance (80.4%) and discrimination (70.7%).

Voda, which surveyed 2,165 people from 75 countries, also found that nearly seven in 10 respondents were living with a mental health condition.

‘Trans people are facing a systemic onslaught on their human rights, be it from the workplace to exclusion from public spaces such as toilets,’ says Jaron Soh, the co-founder and CEO of Voda.

‘Globally, we’re seeing an increase in anti-trans rhetoric and policies, emboldening hate and marginalising trans individuals even further.’

Soh says that Voda’s report makes all too clear how vital – and life-saving – access to mental health support services can be. Nearly half struggle to access trans-inclusive services.

‘Accessing private therapy is often prohibitively expensive, leaving many trans+ individuals unable to afford support,’ he explains. ‘Even when therapy is available, finding a therapist who both understands and affirms trans+ experiences can feel nearly impossible.’

Trans people are facing a climate of hostility across the globe. At least 5,000 trans people have been murdered since 2008, while Trans Europe and Central Asia says healthcare options are becoming few and far between in some countries in the two regions.

This includes the UK, says Maxine, where waiting lists for a first gender-affirming healthcare can stretch for years. First appointments at one clinic are being offered to people referred as early as December 2018.

‘I’ve lost friends to suicide who were not supported and had to navigate impossible wait times both for gender-affirming care and for mental health support,’ Maxine says. ‘I feel this world and government did not do enough to protect them.’

And this includes on the streets. Anti-trans hate crimes in the UK rose by 186% in the five years up to 2023, a figure all the more startling given that only 0.5% of Britons are trans.

‘And yet trans people are still expected to remain functioning members of society,’ says Maxine.

‘Mental health is something we should not have to fight for – happiness and any sense of normality and security is not something that should be gate kept from us by our government.’

Information on the health and wellbeing of trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming is invaluable to policy-makers and healthcare providers who have long cited a ‘lack of data’ for the limited options, says Soh.

‘We hope this study highlights the importance of serving this underserved community and encourages systemic changes to bridge these gaps in care,’ he adds.

Maxine knows the difference mental health services can make. She’s recently started therapy and, these days, is feeling kinda good.

‘Your health, work, home, and relationships are the main pillars that uphold your life and if any one of these factors are unstable – as can be the case for anybody in 2024 – it can easily impact your base level happiness & mental health,’ she adds.

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