Transgender Youth in the Inpatient Psychiatric Setting: A Literature Review and Case Report.

Once considered pathological, transgenderism is now accepted as a variant of normal sexuality. As society has become more accepting of transgenderism, increasing numbers of transgender patients have begun to seek psychiatric care, and younger populations are embracing their gender differences. There is a paucity of literature on how best to serve transgender youth in psychiatric inpatient units. In this article, we share our experience and discuss the need for practical guidelines to help the inpatient psychiatrist navigate key topics related to this population. We then present a case report to illustrate several of these issues. A major goal of this report is to increase the literature base.