...  This in a nutshell is why drugs, and mental health issues are high among transgender/transsexual people. In summary, poor medical care, societal blackballing, prejudice, insufficient amount of change in the system, lack of advocacy as a minority of the populace, and popularized media demonizing transsexuals or confusing the general public about us is to blame for the higher rates of mental illness, and drug use. The APA (American Psychology Association) notes higher statistics of co-morbid mental disorders in Gender Identity Disorder patients, somewhere in the 50 – 75% range in some areas. Some mild, some severe. I myself went through a phase of substance abuse, as well as the fact that I know I suffer other disorders (mental) as a result of societal disapproval of my behaviors as they didn’t conform to gender norms, and abuse. You can go to the APA and look up their statistics, and check out other various sites, but the numbers vary wildly. I’d be inclined to believe it’s higher than average people, but not as much as you would think. Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!  Tags: mental illness, gender identity disorder, mental disorders, drug use ...