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By Mayo Clinic Staff

Everyone faces certain health risks. But there are specific health concerns that transgender and gender-diverse people need to be aware of.

Some of these health concerns may be due to an experience called gender minority stress, which often involves:

• Negative attitudes and disapproval toward transgender and gender-diverse people. This is sometimes called social stigma.
• Discrimination, abuse, harassment, neglect, rejection or unfair treatment of transgender and gender-diverse people.
• Turning the negative attitudes or behaviors of others into negative attitudes and thoughts about oneself. This is called internalized stigma.

Gender minority stress is linked to transgender and gender-diverse people seeking preventive healthcare and health screenings less often than do other people. This might be due to a lack of insurance coverage, being refused care, difficulty finding a healthcare professional with expertise in transgender care or fear of discrimination in a healthcare setting.

Because of gender minority stress, transgender people may be at higher risk of:

• Emotional and psychological abuse.
• Physical and sexual violence.
• Sexually transmitted infections.
• Substance misuse.
• Mental health issues, such as depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide.