Freedom from Psychiatric Surveillance
On paper, I’m the portrait of sanity. But that’s only because I’ve never sought help.
Last week, I had an appointment with a therapist, to assess my preparedness for gender-affirming surgery.
The therapist asked about my gender identity, and how long I’d known that I was a man. They asked about my job, and living situation, and my plans for surgical recovery. I was asked about my relationship to my family, and whether they were supportive of my transition.
But mostly, I was asked about my mental health. I had completed an anxiety and depression pre-screening survey prior to the session, and the therapist asked me about my responses, which indicated some occasional irritability but no issues with low mood. I was asked about the improvements that going on testosterone had brought to my mental health. A complete psychiatric history was taken, which in my case didn’t take long, given that I’ve never been hospitalized for any mental health concerns, and in fact have never sought help for any kind of psychiatric problem.
When I first booked this appointment, the therapist had told me they’d need two separate, hour-long sessions in order to learn all the information they’d need to write me a letter of support for surgery. But in reality, they were…
