Philosophy Tube - 2022-11-11
https://go.nebula.tv/philosophytube An odyssey into the NHS and why it treats trans patients so poorly https://www.patreon.com/PhilosophyTube Subscribe! http://tinyurl.com/pr99a46 Twitter: @PhilosophyTube Email: philosophytubebusiness@gmail.com Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/jgjek5w realphilosophytube.tumblr.com BIBLIOGRAPHY: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRRaC0-7ejSXkPaHwzPkLEGDDfztyGIpyhjoKv3aomkSZXBBT2mhZEXg4AW2pAmr8SvbpWNtL5GCoKj/pub CHAPTERS: 0:00:00 Prologue 0:01:17 1 - The Easy (& Wrong) Version 0:04:31 2 - Basic Training 0:09:47 3 - The Theatre of War 0:16:22 4 - Contact! 0:32:07 5 - Unequal Treatment 0:47:32 6 - Solutions 0:53:29 7 - Colonel Cathcart's Grand Plan 0:59:36 8 - Computer Says No 1:04:46 9 - You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Transition, But It Helps 1:20:08 10 - Yossarian MUSIC: "Unfoldment, Revealment, Evolution, Exposition, Integration," "There's Probably No Time," "The Life and Death of a Certain K. Zabriskie, Patriarch," "Oxygen Garden," "Is That You or Are You You," "I Am a Man Who Will Fight for Your Honor," "Divider," "I Don't See the Branches, I See the Leaves," and "What Does Anybody Know About Anything" by Chris Zabriskie are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/ #health #healthcare #education
I'm Canadian. A homosexual Canadian. My roommate, who's a long time friend, suffers horrible, incapacitating pains during her period. She's been asking for a hysterectomy for years, and has consistently been told that it couldn't be done in the off chance she finds a man who want s children: she had never wanted any. It's come to a point where I've offered to marry her so I could tell her doc that I agree to sterilize her. Women are not being listened to, and it's tragic. Truly. Watching the suffering helplessly is really saddening
Wtf! She should say she's lesbian so they can't use this horrible and patronizing excuse to rob her of her bodily autonomy
WHAT THE FUCK
That is also heartbreaking from a fifth angle since it devalues adoption. We live in a very strange world.
Imagine denying someone's bodily autonomy for a theoretical man. Is there any proof of patriarchy stronger than that - that the desires of men who may never exist have more say than a real woman?
Is it endometriosis? My sister has had it since puberty. It's debilitating. Still, it took thousands of dollars worth of appointments and years of hopping from specialist to specialist before she could finally get a hysterectomy. She told me she felt like nobody was listening to her. She has kids already, but they still insisted she'd regret it. She argued that she could barely take care of the kids she had while she was in so much pain.
I hope your friend gets the operation she needs. If her situation is anything like my sister's, it will help so much. 💛
The fact that, it part 9, abigail repeatedly asks “were you abused as a child” in almost the same way in the same tone each time is bone-chilling. Great performance.
I remember when I came out to my mother she asked me the same question over and over again
I lived through CSA since I was 4 until I was 15. I had to tell my mother that my decisions were independent of my experiences a lot of times
I'm a CIS woman who for unknown reasons only developed one breast during puberty. This obviously caused me significant mental distress. I finally went to my doctor about it, was seen by a local specialist, scheduled to see another specialist at a plastic surgery hospital in another trust, missed this appointment due to public transport issues, had a rescheduled appointment, then received my surgery. This all occured within the space of four months, and the only thing I paid for was public transport to get me to my appointments. They have the resources, they just don't want to give them to trans people.
the double standard of cis people receiving gender-affirming care way, way before trans people are even considered is absolutely insane. i am happy you received the care that you needed to feel right, obviously, i just wish that it were universal.
@@sprites4738 I wish that too.
just so you know, you don't have to capitalise 'cis'. that was due to a cruel rumour spread around years ago that said 'cis' stood for 'comfortable in skin', which obviously erases all the cis people with issues regarding their appearences. it's actually just an old prefix that just means 'on the same side of'. like, the uk and france are cisatlantic. the uk and america are transatlantic
@@nemnyoom uuuuh clearly CIS stands for confederacy of independent systems
It's actually computer and information services, don't you know? @@chariotwiggly
And yet I was under the idea that it was too easy to receive this type of healthcare. Misinformation is one hell of a drug.
That's why itns very important to be careful about information found on the internet. Otherwise you end up watching guys like Sargon.
@@Sir_Bucket well said. I too was so close to being one of those people. Affirmation for your own biases is dangerous yet EXTREMELY easy to fall into. question EVERYTHIGN
It makes the spreading of misinformation about "kids transitioning willy-nilly" by far-right groups especially infuriating (also because they purposefully have no idea or lie about what that healthcare actually entails), and then they use our furious emotional response as a way to discredit us. We can just never win.
I only found out after I had paid a bunch of money and spent a bunch of time with a therapist that my doctors receptionist had lied to me and that I did not need a letter from a therapist to start hormone therapy. This was after months of waiting for an appointment to see one of the few doctors in my town that would prescribe me hormones, getting my appointment canceled twice, and then, after he prescribed me the medication, I waited three weeks for the pharmacy to fill it and payed $50 for a vial that would last me four doses. Even when there are “no barriers” to trans healthcare, someone will create a barrier for you.
Thank you for sharing your story. I’m sorry it has been such a horrendous experience.
To paraphrase a famous AIDS activist protest signage on the back of their jacket: “If transphobia kills me - forget burial - just drop my body on the steps of Congress.”
This hits different nowadays...
I remember the protests right after Uvalde. Saw a picture of a young person with a sign that says “if I die in a school shooting, leave my body on the steps of congress”
It definitely won't lmfao
This is taken from "Close to the Knives" by David Wojnarowicz. And people did indeed throw their friends' ashes on the White House lawn.
@@blazernitrox6329why different today?
My white whale was getting my university to stop deadnaming me (even though I legally changed my name partway through the process - they still managed to screw it up). Months of emails and meetings (with everyone from the student-run LGBT outreach to the dean's office) later, they added a tiny little button to the student portal to add a preferred name which would appear everywhere a legal name wasn't required. Even if I leave no other legacy in this world, at least I gave it that button.
I am so sorry that you had to do all that, but thank god for you. You have already accomplished more for others than most will.
You very possibly made the lives of many trans people just a bit better and that’s more then many have the strength left to do weather they’d like to or not
That's amazing! Well done!!!
Christ, this is how petty trans people are. Everything gotta cater to them.
Grow up.
"waiting for someone else's permission to live the rest of your life" as a chronically ill person, this is exactly what the wait to for diagnosis felt like. Dying until they told me otherwise.
"dying until they told me otherwise" describes it precisely, the sheer amount of background terror waiting for diagnosis spanning months, years in pain
Yup :( it’s so painful.
Felt very much like this, as someone who has struggled in the mental health system. It’s devastating to see how the very system that was design to support such communities has turned into something so broken. My heart breaks for the endless avoidable deaths and pain that has been caused by Tory privatisation and cuts
I feel your pain. I've been there.
or having to prove that you "suffer enough" to count as chronically ill in front of psychologists and evaluators that would send you back to work and mark you as "healthy" just cause you still have barely enough juice in you to do the dishes. cause "surviving" and "living" are apparently the same thing.
a good friend of mine was illegally kicked off of her GP without the written 3 day warning she's legally supposed to get. the reason? she wouldn't leave when they wouldn't fill her perscription, and kept insisting that they Couldn't(they absolutely could). they even threatened to destroy her medical records. all because they didn't want to give her the percription reup for the progesterone she's already approved for and entitled to.
we are looking into legal action :) as will her gender clinic if they actually did destroy the records they need.
the best part? she's not even trans. she's just intersex.
these people are WAY too comfortable lording power and strategic incompitancy over peoples heads. if they don't want to help you then they just fucking won't. and something i don't believe abigail mentioned in her video here: the entire time, you are not allowed to show any outright anger, and they may even go as far as asking you to sign a contract promising you won't cry, whine, or otherwise make a fuss at ALL while in their clinic. i guarantee you that's why she was so hilariously Polite™ throughout this video. because it's not just while you're in there; if they can find proof of you acting out about them, they can just kick you off.
this system is killing people, and i promise you, they're laughing about it. we NEED to fix this system.
Destroying medical records feels like a special kind of evil. It's going out of your way to do something that benefits no one - it only harms. How can you threaten something like that and not see yourself as a villain?
I like the term "weaponized incompetence" for things like this. LIke how the police "lost" all the evidence from my childhood "grape" and kidnapping case only after it was decided that my case would not be winnable.
@@hobocode When it gets to the point of threatening to destroy medical records, it can no longer be called "incompetence", even ironically. That is weaponised malice, not incompetence.
@@ActualAshCamDefinitely weaponised malice. Legal malice and discrimination, the ability to deny care or service based on some logical factors, is understandable but highly abusable. Weaponising it to keep someone in line is a blatant abuse of power.
@@annamelvina216 Surely it's illegal?
Abigail: “You have a legal right to receive health care within 18 weeks.”
Everyone who’s ever tried to get NHS mental health support: “wait, what!!!!?????”
whattt?!!
It's amazing what happens when you have a party quite willing to privatize another national system for profit because it makes the richest even richer.
@@Aubsbubs you think that's bad, during covid tons of us autistic people were sent out letters telling us that we would be blanket given "do not resuscitate" orders if we got ill.
@@robokill387 Wait what? WHAT???
That can't be true?! They send you a letter that they would just let you die??
@@robokill387 Currently the waiting list to be seen and assesed for autism is a year and a half ..
Her delivery of "as a human being, i have a strong preference for my own survival" is devastating
Her delivery of, "beans on toast," had me CRYIIING 💀😭
I'm in the US.
My wife was bleeding out slowly, it was like a period that would never end. We didn't know what was going on, just that she was getting weaker and her abdomen was swelling. She wasn't pregnant (we are both female, cis lesbians) and it wasnt making sense. We would take her to the hospital but they would make sure she was stable as required by law and that's it. No tests, no MRIs, just "she's not going to drop dead right now so send her home, it's just dramatic woman stuff"
The state of Tennessee where we lived opened up a healthcare lottery. They literally would announce a phone number to call on the news once in a while and if you were lucky enough to get through, you could have the pleasure of paying hundreds a month for state private insurance. One day, I got through, and she got health care.
Turns out she had a tumor the size of a nerf football on her ovary and it had to be removed immediately. I was so scared she would die. We split up shortly after she got better, but I'll never forget how scared for her life and angry I was at society for allowing this.
Healthcare should be a right, and when we have it, we should all be treated with dignity and taken seriously as any cis white guy would.
Sorry to hear about the medical and marital troubles, I swear our system is rigged against women.
American straight cis man with chronic medical problems here. I've had multiple partners have trouble with the medical system that I don't face because my problems aren't "women's problems". I just wanted to express support. This shit makes me so angry I can't think clearly while leaving this comment, and I'm not even one of the people directly affected.
wtf... thanks for telling your story
@@bluepapaya77 I have chronic health issues, and had trouble getting them addressed even before I came out as a woman. I guess now I get to experience being taken even less seriously than I was before.
Society didn't put a tumor on her ovary
My maternity Doctor (who turned out to be the one who decapitated a baby in Ninewells in Dundee) was really really pushing for a natural birth. I was high risk and terrified. I saw a different doctor one day, a beautiful English black lady, who took one look at my chart and my anxious face, picked up the phone saying, "if you wsnt a c section, we'll get you a section." Bish bash bosh. There were a number of things that could have spelled disaster for me, my son ir us both. Hes 5 now ❤
jesus, im so sorry you have to go through that. so glad u and ur son made it through and are in a better place now!
i'm so glad you met her.
I'm so glad to hear you and your boy are alright and, above all, alive and well. 💚
@@zubetp me too, I really wish I'd caught her name, I'll never forget her
@@gemh89you can find her! Look in your notes and see the name of the doc who signed x
For anyone wondering how other groups are doing, people with ADHD and Autism Spectrum are having basically the same treatment. The NHS baaaasically doesn't admit that either condition exists in adults
fun :/ gotta love how our systems just abandon us at adulthood to fend for ourselves. when I was on California's state medicaid plan (basically a free state-run health-insurance program for people who are too poor to afford private insurance), they would fully cover the cost of me going to the doctor to get diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed stimulant meds, but they wouldn't pay for the meds themselves. ADHD medication was only covered if you were 18 or younger. Because, as we all know, ADHD just stops being a problem and goes away the day you turn 19. 🙄
Right! They gave me amphetamines as a kid without second guessing and now that I’m an adult they treat me like a drug seeker
....*WHEN YOU ARE ALL OF THOSE*
will in the US that Admit that Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD affect adults. No one gives a dame about it and you have no obligation or extraction of care. So the NHS pretending you don't except but still pervideing basic medical regardless is still much better then being complete screwed and with out healthcare at all like it is in the US
YEP.
I waited over four years for an ADHD assessment and stupidly told the truth that I had, in fact been abused as a child. It's trauma, he said. I gave him all of my school reports, all of them. It was as clear as day. Trauma he said. ADHD and trauma at the same time, I said? Trauma, he said. Off with you now, he said. I will never be the person I could have been.
It's insane that you have to coddle and dance around doctors for them to not dismiss you
What makes this even worse is that SO many people, including myself, experienced childhood trauma (and C-PTSD) at least partially BECAUSE OF undiagnosed ADHD
I was diagnosed 5 years ago and stopped medication. My trust had shut all its practices and reffered me to a private right to choose service so I could be seen within 18 weeks to start treatment again. It's been 18 months and I'm still waiting for an appointment. The law stipulates this must be done in 18 weeks or another clinition from another trust must be transported to my practice. This hasnt happened and there is no legal recourse for them.
@@shmel3689 it's so horrible in therapy and psychiatry too. Can't share too much, they'll send me to the ward.
Adhd is very linked to trauma. He should read books by Gabor. I chose to pay for my adhd assessment privately
“A little technique in business philosophy called lying”
This quote is my favourite.
I’m in australia and I told my GP I was non-binary in an appointment for something else. A few months later I asked for a referral for top surgery and she was like “well, this obviously isn’t a new thing for you, sure thing.” And then I saw a plastic surgeon half a year later to get top surgery about a year later. A long wait but he was going on holiday for 2 months and was quite busy. No red tape, they believed me to start with, just a wait because he was very good. I didn’t even need to be on testosterone to have it. And my chest looks great.
I'm australian too and your story gave me so much hope, i'm non-binary and want to get top surgery too. congratulations :)
I cried a little reading that. I'm in Scotland and the waitlist for me is 2 years. I'm looking at March 2025 for my initial appointment.
how much did you need to pay? I've been trying to get top surgery for years now (Vic based) but the cost has stopped me at every turn
Fuck it I'm moving to Australia
@@Vivi2372 ikr? Like damn
im a trans man living in scotland. i went to my gp to be referred to sandyford gender clinic. i was referred in october 2018. it is now april 2023, and i havent had a word. no letter, nothing. i asked to go when i was 14, and i am now almost 19 years old. my puberty is done. it was the wrong one, and i am so, so fucking angry.
my family cannot afford private care. i had to choose between getting top surgery or going to university and having my flat. ive attempted twice, and my gp did not care. all he said was “we cannot move you on the waiting list” when i came in on an emergency appointment after my second suicide attempt.
people die on the waiting list. transmascs cannot do DIY without extreme risk. people are DYING. I ALMOST DIED. and the nhs doesnt care enough to save us.
i am SO sorry 🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
I have lived through a disconcertingly similar experience to yours, only that I am from Italy, and as another trans 19 year old who is still waiting for healthcare after surviving one sui attempt, I just want to say that I understand how you feel.
@@ExtraThiccc youre going through the comments on this video to talk about how people dying is paradise. actual monka take bro
@@gato_uisce It's free healthcare, they brag about it all the goddamned time. Just utilize it better.
You either get rid of your socialist medical system or get enough money to afford a proper American private medical care to fund your mental illness.
I'm not trans, but I am childfree, and I have been trying for the past 4 years to get a referral for sterilization. There really is nothing so infantilizing as being told by a fellow adult that you don't know your own mind.
YES! I’m trans but spent years before I realised going to doctors. I saw the cost to go private and cried. It’s a deposit on a first flat essentially - either own your own home or own your own body, if you can even ever afford to choose. So fucked.
Yeah, that's fucking crazy
@@abcxyz2927 and? Pokemon are nearly 30 years old either you live under a rock or your a troll
Adults can still enjoy things like Pokemon
@@abcxyz2927 Why would you be so rude to someone you basically don´t know shit about just ´cause of some Pokémon videos?! It seems pretty clear to me who´s the actual immature one here...!
It is infuriating, my partner inquired and was told the same. Whereas I went to my GP (32yo guy) asked for a vasectomy and got one for free like 4 months later.
I haven’t seen anyone mention the fact that Ms. Abigail is dressed similarly to Amelia Earhart, which hit me pretty hard. People have found that she survived the crash and even was able to send out messages on a radio— which were dismissed as false alarms and then only heard by people who could do nothing
Wow…that IS profound!
I had no idea! Jez, that's so appropriate then.
and when you google it what do you see?
is this covered up on purpose?
@@EnverHalilHoxha1917 no, just that people didn't believe she could have survived, and that people were bigoted so they let her die.
Oh! I thought she was dressed similarly to Amy Johnson. Which would be in keeping with the WW2 RAF theme. Why do you think Earhart rather than Johnson?
I could feel my anger management therapy eroding away as this video went on. I'm so sorry for all of you.
Unfortunately anger is the right answer here. Thank you for your sympathy.
@m.mulder8864
(something appropriate about the boros icon here)
watching this video just fills me with such a righteous anger, i wish there was something i could do qnq
ugh I need anger management therapy. writing paragraphs under stuff isnt good for me.
As an NHS doctor I just want to say how profoundly sorry I am that we are failing you and so many other people right now. To be honest, it fills me with deep shame and rage. Shame because of having to represent this brutality and because I know how much better it could be. Rage because of the indifference and ignorance of so many of my colleagues and bosses and because of how powerless I can feel.
I have to own that I thought it was a resource issue. Of course I’ve seen the bigotry, and I agreed that ultimately it shouldn’t be pathologised but rather seen as a part of life that sometimes requires medical support, like pregnancy and labour or ageing. I still think that mental health problems are often entangled with being trans, for obvious socio-political and psychological reasons, and I think a role for a doctor to support for those who need it. However I don’t think I realised how much I relied on the resource problem as a screen to hide the fact that the system functions as it does, and as you say, that isn’t to help trans people. Thank you for putting forward such an elegant and personal argument for an alternative better system. You’ve really made a masterpiece of this form that you’ve created. I’ll be sharing this with people I know in GD services.
I agree with Benji’s comment completely, and just wanted to add that as an NHS A&E doctor who has a trans partner I often feel as if I’m working with the enemy when I go to work and come up against the bigotry and ignorance of some of my colleagues. I’ve taken to trying to pick up any obviously trans patients on the A&E tracker first so they see me instead, but I wish I didn’t need to feel that was necessary. I think my A&E is a good one, but I’d never let my partner go to my workplace alone, and that says it all really.
@@Sparrowarah Act like you're a spy in the service. Collaborate w/ activists, they can do the heavy lifting if you're willing to provide inside details
Based
at some point in the video she says that GPs in other countries can just give the hormone blockers, hormones or send you straight to the surgeon for procedures (and compated apples to oranges as in compared nonurgent/nonemergent surgical procedures to some that are elective, and btw I mean these by the medical terms), I am in USA but don't get the issue on this part unless it is a kid racing to block puberty (which would then be a pediatrist in USA not sure UK), this is done for other conditions of the same nature, a GP refers to a specialist, then once the specialist starts a plan the GP can continue it with less frequent visits to the specialist (as the specialist deems it), doctors in those other countries must have some immunity to getting sued, the problem seemed to be on that asshole GP she had and that meme of a gender dysphoria center they were running
Funny how I see a lot of doctors in these comments saying how sorry they feel, but none of them say anything about planning to change how they practice.
Last week my 70 year old friend broke her hip and lay on a trolley in a corridor for two and a half days. Before the ambulance came to pick her up they had to wait nine hours for its arrival. She was in agony and has Severe Dementia. Her husband had to witness this, after paying his taxes all his working life. The NHS is not fit for purpose. I hope you get your treatment soon. I hope all your hard work making the film helps to make a difference. I'm sure it will make a lot of difference to people in your community that have the same problem trying to be treated. This is so sad. You have done really well, hang in there girl! xxx
recently i fell off my bike with my neck directly on the handlebars of my bike (the end of them). spent 9 hours in a&e alone waiting to be seen (i’m 18) and finally left at 4am. people have died from similar injuries
Once a month, every month, here in the great state of Arizona I go to get my HRT (and anti-depressants refilled. My pharmacy says "We can't do it, your doctor won't let us".
Every month, I go to my doctor and ask them to give permission to the pharmacy, so I can get my medicine that is prescribed to me.
Every month the doctors office tells me to ask the pharmacy, I come into the office in person, with a written request from the pharmacy. They ask me to ask the pharmacy to fucking FAX the request to the doctor.
Every month they get confused, the front desk ladies who will keep this job for one month redirecting me up and down the street the two offices are on. I walk back and forth, three, four times. Getting requests for requests and papers to give to people so I can get papers to give to other people.
This has been the state of things for three years now.
Every month I have to fight the bureaucracy. I have been denied my HRT and anti-depressants for weeks at a time, to the point that I ration the anti-depressants not taking them on the easier days, and don't take the HRT before my blood tests, that way they'll give me more than I need so I can have extra when they inevitably deny it to me while they push papers around.
Don't get me wrong, it doesn't even come close to this British bullshit, they gave me HRT like 2 weeks after my gender dysphoria "diagnosis". Still, so much of my time has been wasted by this system that should have been smoothed out years ago
I too live in the Grand Canyon state. My experience has not been like yours at all. I'm so sorry for all the suffering and frustration you have been going through. Please, if at all possible for you, look into seeing Dr. Randy Gelow. He's a fantastic GP that specializes in LGBTQ+ healthcare. He and his staff are wonderful.
I feel this so hard. I'm currently several weeks without hormones because the system is rigged against us.
Sorry they are so shitty to you.
Hi, fellow Arizonan here, this fucking sucks and I hate to live in a world where someone would have to go through this nightmare. Just remember that even if you are presented with a reality that is factually bleak, there are people who love you are and willing to fight for you. Even if we are outside of your eyeline.
I'm about as trad, stereotypical male as they come. I was a paratrooper. I coach boxing. I smoke cigars and drink whiskey. And it is STILL beyond me why there's such cruelty towards trans folk. It's just none of anyone else's business. Why would it be? Why would you get in somebody's way when they're trying to get where they're convinced they belong? It's no whiskers off their chins.
I know it happens, I've seen it. But it seems like a lot of work to be that evil. When I was in the Army, we used to say that the Army prefers to "solve" the complainer, rather than solving the problem. This looks similar.
Well said mate, the fact people can spend so much time worrying about other people's private lives is a great shame. As you said it's no whiskers off their chin, which is a particularly apt metaphor in this case lol.
Use your platform to boost the concerns. You have the hugest leg up over anyone non-cis, not male, or not straight.
Hell, maybe have coaching classes for trans people, even if it's just a confidence workshop or something. I'd do anything for a mentor or coach in physical fitness and basic skills like not giving a fuck, lol.
@@finngswan3732 what don't you want to give a fuck about? Are you trans?
Based.
We need more people like you in the military and other places of power/influence. Keep on being awesome, brother.
That's because it's exactly the same problem. In the army, people who complain are trying to change a system which doesn't want to change. Which can't be changed without significantly impacting its capacity to carry out its function of maintaining global US hegemony. You have to crush the complainer, because if their complaint gets out and people understand why it was made, they will start asking questions which make the whole system look bad.
Same thing here. Trans people falsify patriarchy as a system by existing. So many power structures depend upon the assumptions of patriarchy being true, though, that they become a threat to all of those power structures. So trans people are characterized as enemies of society and culture rather than people...because in a twisted way, they are. The existence of trans people threatens the status quo. People who see that trans people are people who deserve to be treated like people are liable to ask other questions of those systems, questions which cannot be so trivially denied. The problem isn't that trans people threaten this system. It's that the system deserves to be threatened for what it does to everyone, including trans people.
Dehumanizing a group is the easiest way to establish and maintain bias, fear and hatred. Its frustrating to have to share your pain publicly, but putting a human face on trans issues seems to be the only way to break through to so much of the public and elicit some actual empathy. I saw an interview with a hard right politician who actually supports the trans community, and he said that he changed his mind after volunteering on a suicide hotline and talking (for the first time) with some trans people in crisis. Thank you for sharing your personal story. It means so much.
Ik i’m two months late but that must’ve required a lot of dedication, especially with the desire to volunteer at a suicide hotline in the first place. Hopefully he’s trying to get some people on his side to garner a fraction of the sympathy and motivation he has/had into making trans people’s lives better!
who is it?
@@carmoonaish Mike Hock
US Texan here. I have had a harder time getting testosterone WITH AN ACTIVE PRESCRIPTION than stimulant ADHD medication, which is in a more restrictive legal category (though I don't approve of the restrictions on ADHD meds either). I've joked about it being a "Voight-Kampff test" to pick up my meds because I feel like I have to prove my worth every time.
And when my pharmacy ran out of T despite knowing my dosage schedule, I had to go through weeks of mood instability and physical pain.
I was told to contact another pharmacy. They had some and were only a short drive away. But then the pharmacist's tone changed. He told me that he couldn't give me the medication because of the legal restrictions on testosterone, and I could hear in his voice that he KNEW he was being legally compelled to do harm. I won't say it hurt him more than me, since he wasn't the one deprived of the only mental health medication that's ever worked for them, but he didn't just sound disappointed—he sounded guilty.
He was the only one in the entire process who seemed to understand that I didn't just want this as a nice-to-have like my favorite cereal, it is a crucial piece of my function. The rest ranged from confused to blustering to condescending.
Decriminalizing testosterone is a human health issue. My medical care should not be diminished and restricted because of sports doping.
i work (well, worked, i quit bc i have a major ethical issue with retail pharmacies) as a pharmacy technician for a while. we can absolutely transfer testosterone in texas as long as it's been filled once before at the pharmacy that originally received it. same with any other cv-ciii prescriptions. the only ones we can't transfer are cii (think adderall and hydrocodone)
fr. it's insane that something is illegal just because somebody else might use it to cheat in a recreational activity, which has its own rules about it. but i guess that's what decades of moronic cis people who think they know better than us creating the guidelines will do
its hilarious cause it doesnt even fucking work. black market t is still everywhere anyway
UPDATE: That course case lost.
"They are “target duties”. The obligation is
to make arrangements to secure that 92% of the cohort are treated within 18 weeks, not
to secure that outcome simpliciter. NHSE is required “to aim to make the prescribed
provision” and the legislative language “does not regard failure to achieve it without
more as a breach."
- Judge Mr Justice Chamberlain
This implies that this is the same for every nhs sector.
The NHS is not legally required to do its job.
Let me repeat
*The NHS is not legally required to do its job.*
My defintion of a `job` is regular predictable tasks in the day, with obvious and set targets. The Health Service, in its relation to patients, obviously cannot predict how many people come through its doors, and this is more so the case in Accident and Emergency. Then there`s something like Covid. Targets can be set, but all it takes is one motorway accident and that`s all forgotten...the main thing is to treat people in physical impairment quickly enough so they are on the road to recovery. That`s the main intention of the NHS, and very difficult to measure in `targets`
I am the mother of a trans man in Canada. Getting him on testosterone when he was 16 was so quick and easy that it actually was a bit concerning to me. Just because it seemed like such a big change. The only criteria was that you identified and lived as that gender for at least 6 months. That's it. Top surgery is also fully covered. I believe bottom surgery is also covered, but there are limited places to get it done, so it would involve travel, but that's it, it's no big deal. Getting his name and gender changed was easy peasy, no doctor required. Nobody has ever given him a hard time about it. All the doctors and schools, when I tell them his pronouns, just respect it and move on, like it's no big deal (because it is no big deal). We're so lucky here.
definitely depends on where you live in Canada because health care is provincial. Where I am in canada, getting surgery for anything that isn’t considered “life threatening” is a ridiculous waitlist. A family friend of mine had a surgery to remove a cancerous tumour delayed for over a year. Eventually she passed away from the cancer that they could have saved her from. Unfortunately the doctors never thought it was urgent so they put it off. Most unfortunate is that my family friend is not an oddity. This kind of thing happens all the time. When I share this story with people in my community, they usually can relate with someone they knew that passed away as a result of the neglect in the health care system. So I would not say we are super lucky here. You need a good family doctor to advocate for you. And most Canadians don’t have a family doctor
Respectfully, I'm Canadian and this feels like another world you're talking about.
@@Amy-fr7cw I'm incredibly sorry to hear about your family friend. I wish every day our system was not so terribly broken. It's hard to not give up even trying to work within it.
@MyPrinceRo I guess maybe we've been lucky, or oblivious.... I should be clear, we've received no negativity, but I'm very aware of the political climate and I am scared for him. I do think it's safer being a trans man than a trans woman, some men just seem to be really threatened by the idea of trans women.....
@@MyPrinceRo it occurs to me that it might also be because he's disabled. He's autistic and although he's high functioning, he's definitely not independent. So I'm pretty much always with him when he's out and about.
Im a 19 years old French cis men. One of my best frisnds is a 16 years old trans boy. I have, because of education and personal experience, a hard time understanding trans people.
Your videos make me a better trans ally, a better friend for who I consider my little brother, and inspire me to (quite unintuitivaly) become a better male role model for everyone around me, which also implies being more open and understand better the diversity of human perception and diversity.
So, tldr, thanks for making me a better person, Mrs Abigail Thorn.
Learning how to be more supportive and accepting for your best friend by watching actual trans people? Absolutely based. I hope you're able to get better at this supportiveness, all luck to you.
Thats great! :D
You dropped this 👑
@@skyfish77 Yeah, but what Abby said is less informative and revealing than listening to his actual friend. These videos aren't random snapshots into people's lives, or unfiltered thoughts. They're prewritten, produced, and edited for the sake of engagement.
Listen to your friends and don't expect any Youtuber to act as a proxy for their individual perception, thoughts, and needs
@@11111110 sure, but it can help avoid incidental microaggressions, or just really akword questions, and it means you can skip (at least part of) the explanation step of bitching about a problem, it's not a replacement, but it is a good supplement.
I remember being diagnosed with ADHD took a whole year to get done.
99% of that time was me waiting for letters or waiting for letters to be sent to other people to send letters to me.
I also had a ‘oops we didn’t send it’ moment where I waited 10 weeks only to realise my letter “fell through the cracks” so I needed to do the entire process again and wait another 10 weeks.
It’s fuckin morbid.
I had my one year anniversary today of asking for a diagnosis for autism. That's after two years of asking for a referral to the mental health services. It's exhausting; every meeting is more paperwork, oh we lost this, go find that, go do that. It feels heartless.
Yeah, great system. You need help with ADHD, so follow through on this long list of requirements and remember your appointments.
A lot like saying "Oh you need knee surgery? Just jog up that mountain path."
@Chris Lauderdale Ironically my dad needed 2 knee surgeries because he fell down a mountain 💀. (He was on a bike and the slope was steeper than he thought, and he ended up tearing something)
Im Canadian and I was told the same, that it would take forever. But then I told my family doctor and he just kinda said "yeah sounds about right" then gave me a prescription for Concerta. Apparently the whole diagnonsis route isnt obligatory anymore, but a lot of people including health profesionnals seem to either think it still is or prefer people go through even if the system cannot carry it out in the time necessary.
I'm American, and for a while they were running under the theory that I had a hearing problem. No fucking joke, they mic'ed my teacher, and put a tiny speaker on my desk, and I was 7 years old.
I was finally diagnosed at 15, and started medication... at 22.
I'm now 30, and trying to put my psychological pieces back together.
i am a trans teenager, i live in tennessee and it's horrible. for those not aware, tennessee has banned all forms of HRT and gender affirming surgery for transgender people, and is currently trying to pass a law allowing trans people to be denied healthcare just for being trans. i am absolutely terrified. literally nobody is talking about it, i haven't even seen fellow trans people talk about how horrifying and deadly these laws are. thankfully, for me my parents are absolutely amazing and very supportive, and i will hopefully be moving to massachusetts (one of the safest states in the US for lgbtqia+ individuals) this summer for mine and my older sibling's safety. i can't even imagine how horrible it must've been for the trans people in tennessee that were forced to stop taking hormones. my heart goes out to any and all trans or non binary individuals struggling with transitioning and healthcare. thank you so much for making this video. even though i do not live in the UK, i am glad that i am now informed on this topic, and it helped me feel a lot less alone in what i am going through in my state. thank you <3
I'm a trans adult that's living in Massachusetts, and if you need anyone to talk to about life here, you're more than welcome to reach out to me via messages on YouTube. I've only been out a few years as non-binary, and been on testosterone less than a year as I write this. I wish that the things we get in Massachusetts weren't a privilege associated with happening to live in a place that's more accepting if you're queer or trans. I wish we could all choose how to live our lives. But please don't hesitate to reach out if you need any support.
I’m also a trans teen living in TN, currently I’m 17. Tennessee, from what I understand, didn’t ban transition care for everyone , they did however, ban it for anyone under the age of 18. Alabama was the first state to do this, back around 2021, and a few others followed suit. In Alabama, iirc it’s a 10 year prison sentence if you’re caught giving HRT to someone under 18. I can’t remember whether or not TN has a similar sentence, but I’d be willing to bet that they do. There’s only one state that I know of that has attempted to ban transition care for adults successfully, and it specifically targeted autistic/neurodiverse transgender people.
If you can, move to Massachusetts, but moving costs money. If you’re able to, you’re in a better position than a lot of us here are. I know that I’m not in that position right now, I’m going to finish my trade school education first because… well, Tennessee promise is too enticing for a broke boy like me. My girlfriend, a trans woman, is in a similar spot financially and education-wise. Neither of us make enough money to be able to pay for our education without help from the government, let alone move states. For us, HRT and medical transition is going to have to sideline itself until we’re in a better spot for our futures.
One of the things I wanted to say also was that I see what is going on in the UK and it's as bad as what's going on in our Bible Belt/Deep South areas. The smoldering and resurgence of these toxic belief systems in a place that was supposed to be built on freedoms is terrifying. The thought that it is the same in the the UK is disheartening. Truly eye opening information.
This really made me think of my mums experience with a Brain Tumour and her experience with GP's relating to it, They fobbed her of multiple times, claiming she was depressed, had low B12, its just menopause symptoms... etc. etc. Much later my mum was talking to a woman from a charity which supports brain tumour survives; she told my mum a story about how GP's don't have much training on the subject, so the charity created training, and emailed all the GP's in the trust the time and place it would take place, even bribing them with free food to attend. and guess what... no GP attended... none of them. All that wasted time and money.
Oh gosh that's so awful. I think I've heard a similar story before (though have no recollection of the subject), too. It's hard to imagine just, declining to learn how to help more people and reduce suffering. Because...?
Your poor mother... Wishing you and your family the best.
Nobody would attend training unless it was mandated. If it is digitized training then the attendance is even lower because they'll begin it... Then realize the training is budget videos and quizzes that lasts multiple hours to do "in your own time" but you are not paid to train, you are paid to do the work.
If you want to train you have to rearrange all your work but of course, people need you everywhere. There may be a backlog of work. Backlog because of staffing issues, funding, mismanagement etc. Backlog because managers think illogically like "9 women can birth a child in 1 month". It works on paper but doesn't work with the resources and support they have for staff.
People get it wrong with Doctors, they are have knowledge in different fields of medicine but are no specialists.
Double decker trains. 🥰
Sorry, I got distracted by trains again. I had no idea that trans healthcare was so bad in the NHS. This video was great.
Breadtuber solidarity!
Healthcare in general is appalling in the UK atm, so it's double so for people trying to transition
... understandable, have a nice day
on a double decker train
Now why did I think of your channel specifically when she mentioned the Dutch trains? 🙃
Fancy meeting you here! Your content is amazing, too!
I'm cis man in Chile. I know some trans people. I empathize a lot. I learned about all of this like 8 years ago, when I was 23. Honestly. Thank you for the quality content, the way you put yourself forward for us to learn. It doesn't impact me in any direct way. I'm not british, nor trans. But I feel since I've encountered your channel, I have had so much to think, to reflect, to look and humble upon. It helps a lot to, as you said, squat over the mirror and look onto my own.... ideology. I can't thank you enough for this video, for your effort. I sincerely hope for you and everyone the best. I will try to keep all these lessons with me to give my own grain of sand to the world when it comes to trans rights and more.
Again. Thank you for this.
Your comment is so lovely, thoughtful, and empathetic
I just wanted to say:
1) I'm so sorry for all trans folk going through this.
2) Love of Blahaj whizzing past my eyes in the section on Dysphoria made me smile.
As a disabled Australian person, the "strategic inefficiency" part resonated so much with me. This sounds like trying to get essential health and welfare services from Centerlink and NDIS Providers. They want their service users to die on the waiting list so they don't have to help anyone.
Centrelink is basically synonymous with strategic inefficiency
im also australian and disabled and i have to thank you for bringing up the dsp, i have so much anger for whatever events that have transpired to sculpt that system into what it is. its absolutely cruel.
Every time I have to deal with Centerlink they seem to get worse and worse, it's almost incredible how difficult they make even the most basic of processes
Veteran Affairs (DVA) has the same problem. We either drown in the years long process, or opt for the easy resolution... suicide.
@@trudi1962 Can sympathise. I hear the assessments and questions they want at the DVA is just as bad as an NDlS plan review. Such a meandering circus of hoops like "jump, peasant, jump!"
i’ve never heard of the natural birth scandal in the uk, and that is utterly terrifying. i was an emergency c-section, and without it, me and my mom would have almost definitely died. my head was far too large to be a “natural birth,” and after trying to push in labor for a while, our vitals were dropping. when i was cut out, my head was incredibly misshapen and my parents always joke about me looking like one of the coneheads. (my head is fine now tho lol, baby heads are very resilient). it’s so scary to think about what if my mom was denied a c-section then. we’d both be dead.
brain too big /j
if i helps, babies have fontanelles for the express reason of having moldable heads for birth. my son was a conehead too. and his fontanelles just shifted naturally back into place on their own within like a day. they're like the seismic plates under the earth's crush except malleable. that's why people are so careful with newborn babies heads. they don't have the rock solid bone skulls that us adults have that are basically football helmets. they have softer and moveable pieces.
Exact same story here! Mum was labouring in hospital for two days before they deemed me stuck. I cannot believe any hospital would be okay with pushing zero c-sections, it's such a terrifying thought
Oh if they hadn’t given my mother a c section I would have asphyxiated. The umbilical cord dropped below my head and it was around my neck. Further I went down, more I choked. Emergency C-Section squad
Women in my family suffer from Endometriosis- my mom has wanted a surgery for years. Every Doctor said she needed her husband to agree - and to have had children. She'd had two, and my Father's full support- there was still pushback telling her she'd "regret" it.
No one outside of the person asking should enter into these choices.
We all stand to benefit when we demand that people are granted autonomy and respect for their wellbeing and their bodies.
Ask for it in writing that they are denying you this service. When you ask for that they usually change their tune as they can get sued for denying you medical services that you consented to. Well....most places.
I wanted to say I agree with everything in the video except for the part that it is easy for women to get hysterectomy. In many cases it is a very difficult process as stated in your comment.
@@meggierocks I believe the video meant getting the procedure for extreme circumstances like cancer, but I may have misunderstood
Three years ago a friend kept trying to get an appointment.
After months of trying he was so concerned about how he felt, he went to A&E.
They told him he had cancer and would have had a chance to survive if it had been found three months earlier.
He died.
i’m a trans man and i’m not even on the waiting list yet.
i’m in a transphobic family, for context. i was told after my family found a gofundme for my testosterone treatment that if i went through with it, i would be homeless. i reached out for support during covid from my gp and asked for the necessary documents for my transition to be emailed and NOT posted so i could fill them out without my parents knowing. nope. sent them right to my doorstep, i was one step closer to being in danger of losing my home because they couldn’t send me a fucking email. i ripped up the paper because my own mum said “this is not for you,” and am still waiting for the right opportunity to get on hormones or even consider surgery. all my trans friends around me are all apparently rich, and have started hormones privately. ALL of them. ALL OF MY TRANS FRIENDS. private. i’m stuck behind with no hope and no money to cover the cost of even consider going on a waiting list.
you’re absolutely right abigail, i feel i’m loving my life waiting for other people to approve of my existence. to approve me of being able to continue living my life. it’s exhausting; but i have no other choice but to just. continue. when i heard 19 years, i was gobsmacked. i was told 4 by friends that later went private. this video is fantastic, and thank you for giving me a reason to be angry and consider me 100% with you on this!!!!!
I’m a cis(?) lesbian living in the US, but my girlfriend is currently recovering from gender conformation surgery, a surgery that had been pushed back three times even after my girlfriend had gone through so many hoops with no financial or emotional support from family. Watching this video made me think of how even despite all the hurdles and suffering she has gone through, she’s still one of the lucky ones.
Abigail, I’ve been watching you for a long time, even before you started making “The Show”, when you were finishing up your masters degree and your videos were usually no more than twenty minutes long, if that. I’ve always loved your content and this video is by far your magnum opus. You should be very proud of what all you’ve accomplished and all the lives you have touched through the content you’ve made and will continue to make. I haven’t become a Patron yet due to not being in a secure enough place financially to do so, though the thought had crossed my mind many times before. This video won me over though and I’ll go make an account now. Thank you for doing what you do.
Mine had gcs as well. Nevermind the financial support is severely lacking in insurance and if you make barely over minimum wage, you lose years worth of savings. But the quality of healthcare for the surgery was fucking terrifying. Had to put my gf up at a nearby hotel (all out of pocket) and while I could call the nurses to ask questions, I was the only person who physically took care of her for the week of recovery after. Learning about catheters, balancing meds, several moments of "am I doing this right?" and managing her stress when the surgeon's lack of bedside manner (and lack of pain management when pulling out the catheter) has been one of the worst experiences I've ever had. Still have major anxiety over future revision surgeries (already had one. Will probably need a second one.)
This video has affected me in the same way. It's nice to know that even with the shit medical system, people have stopped turning a blind eye to the lack of human rights and care for trans people. Hope you and your partner have better days ahead.
@@Fjodor.Tabularasa and I long for the times when people who had nothing intelligent or important to say shut the fuck up. Yet, here we are. C'est la vie
Sending all my love for that (?) because you, my friend, know whats up. Also, same.
Not trans but this is particularly cathartic to rewatch today, as I contemplate trying to get treated for chronic disease in the us as a fat woman. I have been told three times by the same doctor to go on a diet despite already being in the diet before she ever met me. Currently saving a binder full of PDFs for actual treatment to take with me next appt. It's so exhausting and I really feel the pain Abby is in despite the difference in specific issue.
I'm also a fat woman in the US. I've been dealing with what I strongly suspect is long covid for over a year now and I haven't bothered to go to the doctor for it. I was overweight prior to that, but I was losing weight, and was in okayish shape. But all my experiences prior to getting sick have led me to believe there is absolutely no point in going to the doctor because all I'll hear is "well, have you tried losing weight?"
Like, I've gone to multiple different doctors over the years for suspected sinus infections and the response is always "hmm, your blood pressure is a little high, have you tried losing weight?"
Or, my absolute favorite when I saw the nurse practitioner instead of the doctor I'd made an appointment with:
Me: My eye is feeling a little puffy and fevered. I'm worried I have an infection.
NP: looks at eye, checks BP
NP: Your blood pressure is high.
Me: Yes, I'm trying to lower it by eating healthier and exercising more.
NP: You should go on medication.
Me: I've already discussed that with the doctor. He agreed that I could try without medication first. My BP is lower than when I was here last.
NP: You should still go on medication. You also need to cut down on drinking, smoking, and red meat.
Me: I'm a vegetarian (that should be in my chart) and I don't drink or smoke.
NP: Well, you need to cut back or your BP will remain high. You can go now, but schedule an appointment to come back in a month.
I did not go back, and scheduled an appointment with my optometrist instead.
Note: I am trying to lose weight, but I'm not capable of cooking my own meals on a regular basis at the moment (thanks, covid) nor exercising on a regular basis (again, thanks, covid), and my partner is convinced that food will make me feel better, so losing weight is hard right now. I am getting better, but it's slow going.
As a trans woman, it's the same shit. It's people exercising their power to control our bodies, health, and wellbeing. The specifics change, but the root is the same. As far as I'm concerned, you are more than justified in seeing this as the same struggle. When you don't fit the mold that society dictates, everyone who disagrees with it can and will find any avenue they can to make your life harder. Be that from fatphobia and body shaming, or from transphobia, or any other bigotry.
Brilliant. This has opened my eyes a lot. I am one of those nonbinary types. I am comfortable being that way, despite struggling within my own doubts as to whether I am trans or not. I saw a specialist and she asked the question about gender dysphoria. She was trans herself. It helped a bit to actually discuss it without an audience (or in front of other group therapy patients who were naysayers, who often taunted me)
@@Zuranevenot gonna lie if your partner is feeding you in spite of your weight loss attempts, that sounds a bit perverse, unethical even. I'm sure he/she means no harm but actions speak louder than words
@@ZuraneveSince being radicalized by Maintenance Phase, I wish to go to my fat friends’ appointments so I can be the “fat doesn’t cause this health problem” voice in their corner.
The weaponized incompetence in the medical system combined with the gaslighting is so exhausting, thank you for ALLLLLL of your emotional and physical labour in this video!
It’s actually terrifying how bad it is. For months, my son had been having issues. Lethargic, sometimes unresponsive, losing weight. I pleaded to see a doctor but they would only ever do over the phone consults. And they always said ‘keep an eye on him’. Phoned the non emergency line 111 and they told me to take him to the kids A&E. That’s when we learned that he’s diabetic and was close to a diabetic coma. Hearing my son crying in confusion because we had to get fluids in him and sitting in a hospital for several nights while he got his strength up - not even able to play his switch…it was heartbreaking and terrifying. And the sad thing is, the doctor told us that it’s becoming more frequent that things that should have been picked up by a doctor are instead being dumped on their doors. He’s fine now - weight back up and back to his energetic self and we’ve all the support from diabetic nurses. Just not our doctor.
holy shit.
Look at the positive side, at least your not American.
@@jacobrzeszewski6527 The difference is that our tax pays for the NHS in the hope that when we have healthcare, we can get it when we need it. So everyone has it for free and not be afraid of getting sick. I don't feel that way anymore because I don't know if my doctor will even see me anymore. And the only alternative is to go private.
@@haydengrayson6284 it happens more than you think
A friend of mine's son went through this, in and out of a&e being told to keep an eye on him. He almost died of T1D because the GP surgery and A&e wouldn't listen. It was heartbreaking seeing her kid suffer like that needlessly. Glad your son is doing better now, I am so angry for your son who whose cries for help was ignored by his doctors.
Regarding the double standard for cis vs trans people who want to get bits removed, I knew a woman who had to endure excruciating pain and possibly cancerous lesions on her testicles because (I presume) the doctors here in my state were uncomfortable with the idea of unintentionally giving her a gender-affirming surgery in the process of giving her a potentially life-saving one.
I'm speechless. Levels of cruelty of the doctors is astounding
@Keebs Before experimenting with tucking I researched how to treat that: The doctor essentially tries gently twisting one way, then the other if that does not work.
It is considered an emergency due to the lack of blood flow.
@Keebs that's horrible. Testicular torsion is no joke, genuinely so terrifying. And yeah, can usually be resolved without any serious work having to be done, but if it gets left then thats when it gets properly dangerous like what happened to your friend. Had my own experience with the NHS tryna get seen after it kept happening to me, till this day their advice was just 'if it happens again go to a&e', and so I just have to hope it never happens seriously. Very paranoia inducing, at least they actually saw me though.
There are a thousand little pitfalls for cis people who aren't performing gender "correctly", too. A cis woman friend of mine has suffered from back and shoulder pain since adolescence. About 10% of it is from an old injury that wasn't treated properly...but the other 90% is that the weight of her breasts pulls muscles and tendons out of alignment. She spent 20 years fighting to get breast reduction surgery--not a mastectomy, even, just a reduction. The first time she brought it up, she was 18 or 19, and the doctor replied, "I would never destroy God's masterpiece like that," while staring creepily at her barely-adult chest. Other doctors reacted similarly: she'd regret it later, whatever man she married wouldn't like it, why would anyone WANT to have a smaller chest, she was so beautiful the way she was ... anything to prioritize male enjoyment of her appearance over her own physical comfort. Because what's some permanent orthopedic damage compared to a nice pair of knockers, right?
She finally did get the surgery, after two decades of trying, and she's a lot happier and healthier. I've tailored clothes for her, and found to my surprise that we now have the same bust measurement, even though ... well, let's just say a small chest hasn't been one of my problems since I was 11 years old. Even if you assume that male pleasure is the highest priority in these situations, denying her the surgery for years is insane. But women aren't "supposed" to want smaller chests, no matter how much it hurts, so she was punished.
The lane of "acceptable" gender performance is impossibly narrow, even for cis people. The even narrower lane of "acceptable" transness makes me want to set things on fire.
@Keebs Absolutely. Due to a medical condition, I can't survive giving birth, and the baby would die soon after. And I can't get a hysterectomy, even though I inherited the problem that made my mother need an emergency hysterectomy when she was about my current age, because unlike my mom I'm not married and "what if your husband wants kids someday?" Kids I can't have! Kids that would result in either one or two caskets, dealer's choice! Apparently my hypothetical husband's hypothetical right to kill me in the attempt to pass on his genes matters more than my actual survival.
And the cherry on the top of all this? I exclusively date women. "Husband", my ass!
As someone who as a part of an internship in 2015 and, called up low-paid NHS workers to understand the impact of cuts, it''s deeply upsetting that the issues I heard then have only aggregated over time. Everything about this video is incredible, thank you so much for everything you put into this.
I had a scottish GP tell me you dont treat ADHD in adults, you just learn how to live with it. Honestly no idea how GPs have a near-100k median and yet nurses are the knowledgable and reliable professionals. Disgrace.
This is so accurate! Also Scottish, my doctor has time and time again shown himself to be unhelpful or not understanding. Now when contacting the GPs office I ask to speak to one particular nurse, who is always more than helpful. As does my mother, as does my auntie. They’re so overlooked, but that one nurse has helped me so much, more than the actual doctor ever actually has.
I have had, and are still struggling with a disordwr called RAD, reactive attachment disorder due to negligent parenting and the lack of parental figures in my formative years. I tried to get help with my large problems with what is to me, luxuries such as being comfortable with just being touched, hugged or even just being intimate with people, but no our healthcare system for mental illnesses in Norway would only consuly me two weeks after ive died or something. They wont treat you if youre not in danger of committing suicide and if you do you will be restrained and watched until those feelings subside. I feel like a husk of a human because i cannot love, i dont feel that much empathy and its even worse when im close with people, its like my mind distancing itself from important people to avoid negative feelings and rejection. This disorder is so cynical and stabs a person at their weakest point, and no one wants to help me, and it makes me so angry i light pop a vein. Do i not deserve to be able to love? Its a disgrace and i spit on the people developing and maintaining the system
My partner is not trans, but does have numerous chronic health issues that leave her permanently, invisibly, disabled. So much of the rage in this video maps onto her experiences trying to secure care here in the US.
I was unaware of this facet of Ahmed's work, and need to check it out immediately. Thanks so much for helping me find words and structures to help my partner and I articulate this utterly shitty system and circumstance.
I'm in the same boat as your partner, and I couldn't agree more. This video was incredibly emotional and helpful
I'd say the situation is much worse in the USA. At least nobody faces financial ruin over healthcare in the UK and the notion of healthcare as a right is not regarded as "communist".
I was at a technical conference with Brazilian engineers and was amazed at how far the USA is to the right of even Bolsonaro's Brazil where healthcare is a human right.
Gender does seem like a sub-kind of bodily category. In which case it would seem like distinguishing gender dysphoria as a sub-kind of body dysmorphia is rational.
As a disabled trans person I only wish trans health care was only as difficult to get as for my chronic illnesses. It's waaaaaaaaaay harder.
@@capslockcapable1719 How is that relevant to anything, who's talking about socialism, the OP over there is saying they are having these problems in the US! Under capitalism!
I'm sorry I hate GP's with a passion.
I went in with an inner ear infection, listed my symptoms with my father present. They said no, that I just had an inch in my ear and to come back in a weeks time.
Next week, its gotten worse, my ear has swollen up, they told me I was still wrong and that it was only an outer ear infection. Gave me a perscription.
It was a wrong persription. That perscription was not in use for the last decade, it did not exsist.
Had to wait 3-5 days to get the correct prescription.
Surprise, it did nothing.
We went back to the GP, my dad furious has a go at the doctor tells him I have a clear inner ear infection. That then GP denied any of the symptoms I descripbed in the 1st session. Saying none of them were in the notes that he recorded. Blantant lies.
My ear drums burst, and one collapsed I now rely on hearing aids. My dad drove me to A&E crying hes eyes out, I had obviously passed out and was just bleeding out of my ears. My dad feared a brain annerum or something awful.
It's GP's that are the issue, my care with Audiology has been amazing. My treatment in A&E was 10/10 when my ears burst.
They just refuse to help you, say your overdramatic or wrong or your making it up for attention.
The fact, trans people experience this during the most important part of their life is ridicious. I lost my hearing, they are essientially denying trans people from becoming their true self, which can lead to suicide :(
I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you had such a shit experience, GP's really seem full of shit and pure hatred
I'm glad your dad was there for you, and I hope you have a good start to the new year. Stay strong!
they just seem to think they’re so much better than the average person, that smimey attitude they have.
when i first went to mine for my, what we later found out was, severe migraines i was exhibiting seizure like symptoms whilst having them & i felt completely ignored.
maybe it’s because i was a teenage girl, but i felt like they thought i was being dramatic & overreacting about them. i finally got a diagnosis & medication but it still doesn’t work all the time.
Jesus fucking Christ. The GPs were too lazy to do proper tests and give you the correct medication and you lost your hearing? For the rest of your life? And it was completely preventable? That’s fucked. So fucked. I can’t stress how fucked I think that is. There has to be some sort of legal action you can take against that GP because that’s fucked beyond belief.
Sorry for my long story but your comment really resonated with me
For me, I was born without depth perception. I saw faint doubles of everything. It's like wearing 3D glasses all the time for everything. It was confusing and scary, but I eventually learned to sort of "live with it".
Life fucking sucked. Simple things like picking a cup of a table were a challenge, I'd often knock them over. Eating food with a knife and fork was tricky cause id often knock it off the plate or not be able to accurately assess where the tool was in relation to my mouth.
Constantly walking into doorframes, smashing my face into cupboard doors, knocking things off shelves. PE in school was a fucking humiliation circuit. Every single week my mum would come down, show them my medical record
"Please don't make Paul play coordination based sports, he doesn't have depth perception"
Nope. Onto the field you go for another game of rounders where you can't tell how far away the thrower is, where the ball is or where your arms are so all the kids can point and laugh at you for another hour.
Every time I went to the opticians the opticians would scratch their head looking at my results on their fancy tools.
The solution was so simple you wouldn't believe it. I needed a corrective lens to basically refract one of my eyes a fraction of a degree. Very straightforward. Didn't require a surgery, didn't need a specialist. Literally all I needed was my GP to write a letter to the optometrist at our nearby hospital to book me in for a proper eye scan of some kind.
Optician sends me to the GP with a letter.
GP says "we'll sort it"
GP "forgets to send it"
GP "couldn't find the letter"
GP "hasn't heard back yet"
Did I wait a month to see the world as everyone else does?
No.
Did I wait a year?
No.
Two?
No.
Ten?
No.
Twenty three. Twenty three fucking years of biweekly appointments, thousands of emails, over 250 appeals to our local hospital.
And when I'm 24 years old I get a call from the optometrist that they have a pair of lenses ready for me to collect.
I couldn't believe it, punch me, slap me, tell me I'm not dreaming.
I go to collect them with my Fiancée.
I just sit in disbelief, holding them in my hands.
When I put them on the first time and looked forward everything was terrifying, it was like a horror movie seeing the world "normally" without a ghostly second image overlaying the first.
Then i look at my fiancée and I see their face properly for the first time without having to squint and concentrate really hard to try and focus one image out.
I ended up sobbing on their shoulder for around an hour.
It took 23 years of us practically begging every other week for a quarter of a century for me to get glasses that it took the hospital about 6 hours to make.
If the GP just actually DID THEIR FUCKING JOB it would have saved me a lifetime of anguish and humiliation. I would have been able to properly see how beautiful my fiancée was the second I met them rather than EIGHT years later.
My friends have all been drivers for close to 7 years now I think, and I can FINALLY think about getting lessons now that I have my lenses. It feels like a dream come true. Every time I take my glasses off, I see the world in two again and it's a reminder of basically the torture my GP willingly put me through for 90% of my life because he just could not be fucked to write a single letter to a colleague.
@@NaskaRudd I would if I was was you just people know at that surgery or have that GP.
They do not get it. They don't even think about it, oh its just an email I forgot to send, and perscription I did wrong etc etc. Weaponized incompenance. They do not see how their laziness can affect a life. Ever.
When I was 21, I went in to my old GP Surgery with my grandmother. We never saw eye to eye, but she was utterly deverstated when I got told I needed hearing aids at 21 years old. She has to wear hearing aids since she was 18 because a bomb went off near her home when she was a child and she lost the majority of her hearing.
She dragged me in there, and demanded to see the GP in question that caused my hearing loss. We already tried reporting him and complaining but unless you sue, which I didnt want to do they don't really care.
She stood there for an hour, and properly laid into him. About the whole thing. Utterly destroyed him. I got to admit it, she went full Karen. Several other patients started chipping in that were there that were his patients as well.
Turned out it wasnt an "one off" thing with me. He has been doing it for years with other patients too.
I got scared because it was a group of like 15 people ranting and yelling at him, the majority were elderly but the GP surgery had to ask everybody to leave and shut for the day. Police arrived everything.
He's still working there, but he has the least amount of patients because its known in our town how useless he is. My grandma was very active in the community and the majority of people know she does not do BS she worked in the army deaf from 20 years old and was very liked too.
All it did, was give him his wage with half the amount of work.
The NHS will never admit a mistake with the GP Surgerys ever.
But it was nice seeing my grandma stick up for me (at a time we didnt even like each other) and I'm glad the majority of our town knows he is useless and to get a second opinion if they have to see him.
@PhilosophyTube - 2022-11-04
I don't usually ask directly but this time, PATREON.COM/PHILOSOPHYTUBE! A phenomenal amount of effort went into making this, the crew and I worked so hard, and if you want more in-depth fully researched content like this then crowdfunding is how it happens! ❤
@RachelWolfe - 2022-11-11
I AM NO LONGER ASKING
@alexobery9813 - 2022-11-11
I can't speak to your experience of GPs in England, but I do know plenty of GPs trying quite hard in Australia to support trans people. Though seeing the demand vs amount of clinics it's underresourced for sure..
@alpaczka6078 - 2022-11-11
That Beowuld DIY was really something of an opener
@harleyjudy2850 - 2022-11-11
I cant imagine how many times you had to change the british prime minister in the time it took to make this video
@Andrew12217 - 2022-11-11
I remember when sexual identity law was discused in Argentina, How marriage would be destoyed, wath if someone transition in marriage, if it dissolves(false because we had already legalised same gender/inclusive marriage (the wording is consorts so its gender neutral),that you needed medical permision, that the would be an stampede of men changing their gender to retire early and scamming social security... and then... nothing really happened... cis people remained cis, the doctor can only know someone is trans because that person is saying it, otherwise how could the "diagnose" it, and to date there was only one suspected case of legal transition for trying to score an early retirement.
Let trans people be themselves, because as you have so elocuently argued, having such systems is just transphobia with extra steps