Gender dysphoria diagnoses surged recently, with Reuters reporting 42K U.S. kids/teens diagnosed in 2021, nearly 3x 2017's number. From 2017-2021, at least 121,882 kids aged 6-17 got this diagnosis.
A 2016 Journal of Adolescent Health review labeled these kids "singularly vulnerable" due to high depression, self-harm, and suicide rates. The APA's DSM notes kids can't fully grasp gender identity, and most eventually accept their biological sex, ceasing to identify as the opposite.
Aiding this increase is the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that “gender dysphoria” is not categorically excluded from the ADA’s definition of “disability.” When enacted in 1990, the ADA excluded certain diagnoses, including the now-obsolete “gender identity disorders.” In Williams v. Kincaid, the court examined whether “gender dysphoria,” a more recent diagnosis, falls under this exclusion or is a distinct condition.
The disability Law Center of Virginia argued in an amicus brief that gender dysphoria is separate from “gender identity disorders.” The court agreed, stating that gender dysphoria involves “discomfort or distress caused by a discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and their sex assigned at birth,” often treatable with medical interventions like hormonal therapy.
The court distinguished it from “gender identity disorders” due to its focus on clinically significant distress, not just gender identity. On June 30, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the defendant’s petition for certiorari, upholding the Fourth Circuit’s decision.
Transgender identity is not a disability, and not all transgender individuals have or identify with a gender dysphoria diagnosis. However, per Williams v. Kincaid, those diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the Fourth Circuit—covering Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia—are not excluded from ADA protections.
Children may qualify for SSI benefits if medical conditions cause marked, severe functional limitations. SSA assesses cases individually, considering overall condition and impact on age-appropriate activities.
So it seems that with any new disorders comes increase of of diagnosis. Along with increase of disability claims. This is often seen in psychiatry thru out the decades. In the 1960s Valium came out and everyone was stressed out and needed a prescription of Valium.
8 years later Valium was the most abused medication and another disorder that comes along in psychiatry is benzo addiction and treatment of Valium withdrawal at psychiatric hospitals.
Sybil the book then movie comes out in the 1970s and a new star is born in psychiatric diagnosis "Multiple Personality disorder".
NPR reports that, after the book and film, diagnoses went from a few hundred to thousands. By the late 1980s, there were 40,000 cases diagnosed in the United States alone. Some experts argue that the popularity of "Sybil" contributed to overdiagnosis of the condition. It's also important to note that the real person behind "Sybil," Shirley Mason, later admitted that her multiple personalities were fabricated.
So that brings us to the 1980s and satanic cults in day care centers across America. Prozac and Xanax late 80s, a wonder antidepressant that everyone needed to a new benzodiazipine that wasn't addictive because it's short half life. 5 years later psychiatry learns the hard way, Xanax was the most addictive and abused tranquilizer and needed hospitalization to come off of.
ADHD, ADD, The Twinkie Defense( Yes it's a real psychiatric defense) to Video Game, Porn, Food Addiction and now the pseudoscience of Gender Affirming care that is a multi-billion dollar industry in America. Psychiatry, Surgeons, Non-Profits, Venture capitalists, Pharmaceutical companies, Cable shows(I Am Jazz) to Pro Palestinian groups jumping on the band wagon to get their share of the pie of the Islam Loving Free Palestinian Transgender community.
Yet as I summize this will go the way the other attempts that psychiatry tried to validify a new revenue stream of diagnosis. Like Sybil who faked 16 personalities and now how over 200,000 Adolescents claiming to be something there not just seem to be learning from Sybil her/him/it self.