In my experience the self destructive instincts are internal. We certainly appreciate social support, I don’t think it could possibly be enough to counter these kinds of self destructive patterns, nor are they caused by a lack of support.
Before I transitioned, I had a worrying relationship with alcohol. Thankfully, I never developed alcoholism, but I reckon I got close. There were plenty of times I spent an evening with a bottle of whisky specifically to make myself feel bad, because at least it was feeling something. Starting on the hormones eliminated that self destructive urge almost immediately. I also stopped buying a big family size bag of candy and finishing it in an evening.
The urge to shave off all your skin comes from having hairs that are wrong and grew in the wrong place. I’m getting electrolysis so it’s being addressed albeit slowly. Hair growth that is bad and wrong happens during the wrong puberty and could have been avoided by getting on the hormones in my early teenage years.
Trans medicine is some of the most effective medicine in the entire field of medicine. If you want to do more I would recommend focusing on that. Do whatever is in your power to make sure that trans medicine is available to as many people as possible as early as possible. But also spread the word. Make sure you talk about trans people and transition. Make sure everyone knows transition is an option. To avoid the worst aspects of dysphoria young people need both access to medicine, and the knowledge to figure out they are trans in the first place. You can help with either one. That’s where I would recommend you focus if you want to do more.
In my experience the self destructive instincts are internal. We certainly appreciate social support, I don’t think it could possibly be enough to counter these kinds of self destructive patterns, nor are they caused by a lack of support.
Before I transitioned, I had a worrying relationship with alcohol. Thankfully, I never developed alcoholism, but I reckon I got close. There were plenty of times I spent an evening with a bottle of whisky specifically to make myself feel bad, because at least it was feeling something. Starting on the hormones eliminated that self destructive urge almost immediately. I also stopped buying a big family size bag of candy and finishing it in an evening.
The urge to shave off all your skin comes from having hairs that are wrong and grew in the wrong place. I’m getting electrolysis so it’s being addressed albeit slowly. Hair growth that is bad and wrong happens during the wrong puberty and could have been avoided by getting on the hormones in my early teenage years.
Trans medicine is some of the most effective medicine in the entire field of medicine. If you want to do more I would recommend focusing on that. Do whatever is in your power to make sure that trans medicine is available to as many people as possible as early as possible. But also spread the word. Make sure you talk about trans people and transition. Make sure everyone knows transition is an option. To avoid the worst aspects of dysphoria young people need both access to medicine, and the knowledge to figure out they are trans in the first place. You can help with either one. That’s where I would recommend you focus if you want to do more.