For transgender and nonbinary people, feeling connected to one’s community may alleviate the adverse health effects of chronic exposure to stigma, the latest findings of a U.S.-Canada study suggests.
Done in collaboration with Université de Montréal assistant professor of psychiatry Robert-Paul Juster, the findings of the Trans Resilience & Health Study focus on variations in the human body’s production of cortisol, a key hormone in the stress response.
In their work published earlier this month in Hormones and Behavior, the researchers were able to demonstrate a link between higher exposure to gender-related stigma and a pattern of cortisol variation that was blunted, sluggish and flattened.
This implies a decreased ability to regulate the body’s stress response, the scientists say.
« Almost every cell and system in our body is influenced by cortisol, » said Juster, who works at the UdeM-affiliated research centre of the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal.
Source et article complet : How stigma hurts trans health | Mirage News