CERTAIN REPERCUSSIONS OF THE TRANSSEXUALIZATION PROCESS IN THE MENTAL HEALTH OF TRANSGENDER MEN

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the repercussions of the transsexualization process on the mental health of transgender men. Method: qualitative research carried out in two embracement spaces for transgender people in the northeast of Brazil. The participants were 18 transgender men who experienced the transsexualization process through the Unified Health System. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between September 2019 and March 2020, which were analyzed through the analysis of thematic content. Results: four categories emerged that evidenced factors that can generate psychic suffering in transgender men, such as self-repression, discomfort before the beginning of body modifications and lack of support from the social network. The strategies used to deal with mental distress was also a point that became evident. Final considerations: it was possible to perceive that the feeling of transmasculine people, when starting the process of body modifications in the Unified Health System, tends to be one of satisfaction with the results achieved.