At the beginning of April, Finland released the results of a groundbreaking psychiatric study on adolescents and young adults who received “gender-affirming care.”

While we as Christians and conservatives have been warning of the irreversible damage that gender reassignment surgery creates, I personally was not prepared for how devastating the numbers truly are.

“Among adolescents who underwent medical gender reassignment, psychiatric morbidity increased markedly during follow-up—rising from 9.8% to 60.7% in feminising gender reassignment and from 21.6% to 54.5% in masculinising gender reassignment.”

I was shocked when I read those numbers. For adolescent boys who undergo gender reassignment surgery, psychiatric morbidity (presence of mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or psychosis), rose from 9.8% to 60.7%.

An increase of 519.39%.

For girls who undergo gender reassignment surgery, psychiatric morbidity rises from 21.6% to 54.5%.

An increase of 152.3%.

The most heartbreaking part is the sad reality that the surgeries themselves are irreversible.

Testimonies from Chloe Cole, Prisha Mosley, and others have been sounding the alarm for years on the devastating impact of gender reassignment surgery and a medical industry that prioritizes profits and politics over the health and safety of children.

Finland’s psychiatric study results only confirm what we have known for a long time: “gender-affirming care” is not “care” at all.

It is medical abuse. Plain and simple.

The Federalist author, Chris Bray accurately points out:

“This study should cause us to apply the brakes to the sick fashion of transing children, even if it makes morally insane leftist psychopaths feel less performatively virtuous.”

As devastating as this study is to the reality of the abusive medical practice that is “gender-affirming care,” is it not and should not at all be surprising that the mutilation of one’s body causes significant psychological distress.

Why? Because human beings are made in the very image of God.

When God first created mankind, He didn’t just create them as bodiless spirits. Adam and Eve had unique and distinct physical bodies. Unique genders made to complement one another.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:27)

Gender matters to God. Our bodies matter to God. As Genesis 1:27 points out, part of what it means to be made in the image of God is to bear the reality of our gender.

When we reject our God-given gender, it is ultimately a rejection of our Creator, and, because we were designed to glorify God, this will absolutely lead to psychological distress.

You cannot rebel against God’s design that He intended for you specifically without consequences.

While the reality of gender dysphoria exists for many, the answer is not to reject, mutilate, and abuse your body.

The answer is to embrace and accept the design and intention of your Creator (Eccl. 12:1).

If you or a loved one is struggling with gender dysphoria, find a biblical counselor near you who can lovingly walk alongside you in your fight to love your body and accept who God created you to be.