Structured attempts to change an LGBTQIA+ person’s sexual orientation or gender identity — a practice commonly called “conversion therapy” — is linked to greater symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidality, according to a study led by Stanford Medicine researchers.
The survey-based study of 4,426 people is the first to explore whether specific mental health outcomes vary by the goal of the practice and whether the recipient is cisgender (identifies as the sex they were assigned at birth), transgender or gender diverse (identifies as neither male nor female).
Conversion attempts may include religious rituals, psychological or behavioral counseling, and aversion therapy aimed at promoting heterosexual attraction or aligning a person’s gender identity with their sex assigned at birth. Because they have not been shown to have any therapeutic benefit, these attempts are more appropriately called conversion practices or change efforts.
The negative mental health impacts of conversion practices have been well-documented, and major health care organizations including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association have denounced their use. Although 23 states and the District of Columbia had banned the practices on minors as of June 2024, conversion practices remain legal in many states.
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