“We distributed a questionnaire and it was completed almost 700 times by young people. Two-thirds of them say they have considered self-medication,” says Romy Beijersbergen NOS Stories in the NOS Radio 1 News† “One in seven, one in six say they actually use it. That is quite a lot.”
Self-medication
There are several types of self-medication that trans people take. “It usually involves hormones or hormone blockers. Think of the female hormone estrogen or testosterone if you want male hormones. You buy that on the internet,” explains Beijersbergen. “You have all kinds of do-it-yourself transition pages online that contain entire manuals. With one push of a button you can order medication and you often pay with crypto or a bank transfer.”
Risk
“It is twofold. On the one hand, you often get it from abroad, from India, Russia or Thailand. You have no idea what’s in it, what the dosage is and whether it’s all right. So there are big concerns about that. On the other hand, going into transition is very intense. Both mentally and physically, that’s why it’s always said that you really need to be stable because hormones can amplify your impulse tendencies. If you’re suicidal, it can be really dangerous.”
waiting lists
There are also all kinds of medical concerns. For example, the blood can become too thick and blood clots can form. Yet many young trans people see this as the only way out. “Almost everyone tells us that it is because the waiting lists are so long. It is no exception if you have to wait three years for a first interview at all. Treatment often starts months later. The despair is so great,” says Beijersbergen.
“Nine in ten in the questionnaire say: I am on the waiting list and I have considered suicide. One in three has even made one or more attempts. That is quite intense.”
Solutions
“I went to see the Minister of Health, Ernst Kuipers, and I said to him: these are the figures, what do you think? He said: I’m very scared of the self-medication part, don’t start it. But the despair is so great. He understood that very well. He said: we really need to really scale up capacity. The capacity for hormone treatments has increased by fifty percent in the past year, but we are far from there. He wants to put a lot of effort into that in the near future.”
“But I said: what good is this to young people who are now on the waiting list? Then he said: well we are going to work very hard on it. Whether that will work in a short time is the question.”
The whole story of NOS Stories can be found on the Youtube channel.
Are you thinking about suicide or worried about someone else? Call 0800-0113 or go to www.113.nl