Hormones Save Lives: The Mental Health Power of Gender-Affirming Care
There’s a line I often hear in therapy rooms: “I didn’t expect it to change everything—but it did.”
That line is usually said with relief, sometimes with awe, and often after someone has started gender-affirming hormone therapy. It’s not a silver bullet, and it’s not about chasing perfection—but for many trans and nonbinary people, access to hormones is life-altering in the most essential, grounded way.
And now, once again, the data backs it up.
A major new study published in JAMA Network Open (2025) followed transgender and nonbinary adults over four years, comparing those who were prescribed gender-affirming hormone therapy with those who weren’t. The findings are clear: people with access to hormone therapy had a 15% lower risk of moderate-to-severe depression. They also reported significantly improved mental health, emotional well-being, and life satisfaction (Van Gerwen et al., 2025).
Let’s be blunt: gender-affirming care saves lives. And these findings reinforce what trans communities, affirming therapists, and inclusive health professionals have been saying for years.
Not Just Mental Health—Mental Liberation
We need to stop treating this research as surprising. We don’t express shock when a person who wears glasses sees more clearly with lenses. So why do we frame gender-affirming care as some mysterious medical exception rather than what it is—evidence-based, identity-affirming, person-centred medicine?
Hormones don’t erase struggle. They don’t eliminate dysphoria or dismantle transphobia. But they can alleviate the chronic, embodied distress of feeling misaligned in your own body, and give people the clarity, energy, and emotional stability they need to thrive.
For many trans and nonbinary people, hormone therapy offers not just physical congruence but a return to self—a way to come home to their body, rather than fighting it.
Therapy Is Not a Gate—It’s a Bridge
As a therapist, I’ve worked with clients across the gender spectrum navigating questions of identity, transition, and medical access. One of the most profound shifts I’ve seen is when someone goes from “Is it okay to want this?” to “I finally feel like myself.”
That process doesn’t require exhaustive proof of suffering. It doesn’t require people to be broken. And it shouldn’t require a panel of gatekeepers asking them to justify their own existence. Yet far too often, that’s exactly the system we’ve built.
Instead, we should be working toward gender-affirming care that is collaborative, transparent, and trust-based. That means listening to trans people—not just when they’re struggling, but when they’re thriving. And it means protecting access, especially in the face of political attempts to restrict it.
The Politics of Care
This study lands at a time when gender-affirming care is under attack in many parts of the world. In the U.S., U.K., and parts of Australia, conservative campaigns have weaponised fear and misinformation to undermine trans health, ban youth access to hormones, and intimidate clinicians into silence.
This is not about “concern.” It’s about control.
If we care about mental health, we need to support self-determination. If we care about reducing suicidality, we need to remove barriers—not build them. And if we truly believe in therapeutic values like dignity, safety, and authenticity, we must defend gender-affirming care as a core part of holistic mental health.
This isn’t controversial—it’s compassionate, research-backed, and ethically urgent.
Intersectionality Matters
Not all trans people experience the same barriers—or benefits—equally. Trans people of colour, disabled trans people, neurodivergent folks, and those in rural, migrant, or low-income communities often face compounded exclusion in healthcare.
Hormone access means very little if it’s limited to white, urban, well-resourced, binary trans narratives. We need an intersectional model of care that centres marginalised voices, respects nonlinear journeys, and affirms diverse gender expressions—including those who seek partial, temporary, or nonbinary-anchored medical transition.
We also need systems that move beyond “diagnosing” gender, and toward collaboratively supporting people to define and pursue their own embodiment goals.
A Call to Action
This study doesn’t just confirm what we already know—it’s a call to act like we know it. That means:
Advocating for policy that protects and expands access to hormone therapy
Challenging misinformation and political fearmongering
Creating gender-literate mental health spaces where trans and nonbinary clients feel safe, supported, and seen
Understanding that mental health is political, embodied, and inseparable from human rights
When we centre lived experience, honour autonomy, and listen to the research, the path forward becomes clear: hormones are healthcare, and healthcare is a human right.
References
Van Gerwen, O.T., Goodman, M., Kazukauskas, K., et al. (2025). Association Between Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy and Mental Health Outcomes Among Transgender and Nonbinary Adults. JAMA Network Open, 8(4), eXXXXX. [Online] Available at: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/XXXXX
CNN Health. (2025). Gender-affirming hormone therapy linked to better mental health, study shows. [Online] Available at: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/03/25/health/transgender-hormone-therapy-mental-health-wellness/index.html