Psychiatric disorders in individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria: A systematic review

Although there has been an increase in the social acceptance of the gender dysphoria (GD) population, these individuals still suffer a high degree of emotional stress, which highlights the importance of knowing their mental illness diagnosis.

A systematic review was conducted to identify the frequency of lifetime Axis I mental disorders in this population, using the MEDLINE/PubMed, SciELO, Cochrane, EMBASE, and PsychINFO databases and manual searching, examining articles published after 1980. The search used the key words: ('transgender' OR 'gender identity disorder' OR 'gender dysphoria' OR 'transsexualism' OR 'gender dysphoric patients' OR 'gender incongruence') AND ('mental disorder' OR 'axis I' OR 'psychiatric disorders') AND ('comorbidity' OR 'comorbid' OR 'prevalence').

From 233 papers found, five were included. The total sample comprised 577 individuals diagnosed with GD, of whom 307 (53.2%) had presented with at least one mental disorder in their lifetime. Among this high frequency of Axis I disorders, mood disorders were the most frequent (found in 243 individuals [42.1%]), followed by anxiety disorders (155 [26.8%]), and substance use/abuse disorders (85 [14.7%]).

This study offers important data to researchers and clinicians so they can recognize and contribute to the development of public policy on the mental health of the population diagnosed with GD. The mental health of these individuals requires special attention as it contributes to their functional impairment.