Psychiatric Perspectives in Gender-Affirming Care

Wayne Wing Ki TangHong Kong, China Speaker Psychiatric Perspectives in Gender-Affirming CareThe psychiatrist plays a fundamental role in the multidisciplinary care of transgender and gender-diverse individuals, moving beyond traditional gatekeeping to provide supportive assessment and mental health care alongside the initiation of hormonal therapy. This presentation outlines the key psychiatric considerations in providing holistic care for this population, offering a complementary perspective to the endocrinologist's work within culturally specific service settings. We will review the current diagnostic framework (ICD-11 Gender Incongruence) and the practical aspects of the pre-/peri-treatment psychiatric consultation. The focus will be on understanding the individual’s unique gender journey and identifying co-occurring mental health conditions or psychosocial stressors that may benefit from concurrent support during medical transition. Furthermore, we will discuss the longitudinal intersection between medical intervention and mental health. While Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT) is effective in alleviating gender incongruence and often reduces distress, clinical experience and local data suggest that medical transition alone may not universally resolve concurrent depressive or anxiety symptoms. We will briefly illustrate this using recent findings from a Hong Kong cohort, which highlight that while gender congruence improves with hormonal treatment, psychological well-being is often more closely linked to psychosocial stressors. The session concludes by exploring how psychiatrists and endocrinologists can collaborate to support patients who face these ongoing challenges, ensuring a safe and sustainable transition process.