What if a television show celebrated an individuals struggle with schizophrenia? Let's say said television show presented the individuals struggle where the family members, friends and even Doctors said it was OK for this individual to hear voices and see things that were not actually there? What if this individuals loved ones advocated that the one suffering from schizophrenia just talk back to the voices he hears and give in to what they are asking him to do? What if the medical team treating this individual said that the things that he is seeing, which are not really there, are actually present and that it was normal for these hallucinations to occur?
Would this be an acceptable television show to air????
If you answered "no", then why is TLC airing a show called "I am Jazz" that celebrates a mental disorder called Gender Dysphoria? Why are the parents, family and medical doctors treating the boy who suffers from this disorder not advocating for the psychological care that he needs to treat this disorder but instead are pumping the child with hormones that will have catastrophic effects on the child?
So, what is Gender dysphoria? It is a "distress" (dysphoria) that is characterized as "A marked incongruence between ones's experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender of at least 6 months duration, as manifested by at least six criterion" (DSM-5 criteria for gender dysphoria). In both the book and same titled TLC television show, "I am Jazz", Jazz Jennings, born male and given the name Jared, was 5 years old when he appeared on 20/20 and said he identified as a girl in 2007. Since then Jared has identified as a female and has shared his story as a transgender male.
There are many highly refutable ideas and opinions that "I am Jazz" tries to pass off as fact in both the book and the TLC series. I would in turn like to present a very well written essay by Dr. Michael K. Laidlaw who is a board-certified physician in Rocklin, CA specializing in many of the bodies systems that are violently manipulated when an individual like Jared goes through gender transitioning at such a young age.
Click HERE for Dr. Laidlaw's interesting article.
Would this be an acceptable television show to air????
If you answered "no", then why is TLC airing a show called "I am Jazz" that celebrates a mental disorder called Gender Dysphoria? Why are the parents, family and medical doctors treating the boy who suffers from this disorder not advocating for the psychological care that he needs to treat this disorder but instead are pumping the child with hormones that will have catastrophic effects on the child?
So, what is Gender dysphoria? It is a "distress" (dysphoria) that is characterized as "A marked incongruence between ones's experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender of at least 6 months duration, as manifested by at least six criterion" (DSM-5 criteria for gender dysphoria). In both the book and same titled TLC television show, "I am Jazz", Jazz Jennings, born male and given the name Jared, was 5 years old when he appeared on 20/20 and said he identified as a girl in 2007. Since then Jared has identified as a female and has shared his story as a transgender male.
There are many highly refutable ideas and opinions that "I am Jazz" tries to pass off as fact in both the book and the TLC series. I would in turn like to present a very well written essay by Dr. Michael K. Laidlaw who is a board-certified physician in Rocklin, CA specializing in many of the bodies systems that are violently manipulated when an individual like Jared goes through gender transitioning at such a young age.
Click HERE for Dr. Laidlaw's interesting article.
