Trans Mental Health: My Journey to Turn Trauma into Purpose

Trans mental health is rarely talked about. In this raw and powerful personal essay, Namibian trans activist Ziggy Porsche #Eixas unpacks the mental health struggles faced by transgender individuals—and how she’s turning her pain into purpose.

Within the LGBTIQ+ acronym, the trans community faces some of the most severe mental health challenges. Suicide, suicidal ideation, anxiety, social withdrawal, and substance abuse are all tragically common—often serving as coping mechanisms in response to relentless trauma.

This distress typically stems from gender dysphoria, family and societal rejection, transphobia, discrimination, and the persistent burden of social inequity. To make matters works, accessing mental health support to address these challenges is in itself a major hurdle.

To truly understand trans mental health, we must break it down into layers of lived experience and unmet needs. No two trans people are the same, and our journeys are as diverse as the community itself.

Living With Gender Dysphoria

As a trans feminine woman, I’ve experienced the often all-consuming distress of gender dysphoria—when your gender identity doesn’t align with the sex you were assigned at birth.

My childhood was filled with confusion and anger. I couldn’t understand why other girls were allowed to wear beautiful, princess-like dresses and have braided hair while I was denied that same joy, even though I knew in my heart that I was a girl too.

I was bullied for being “too sensitive” and “too girly,” but for me, I was simply being myself. When puberty hit, I wanted to die. The changes in my body felt like a betrayal, and even today, after starting hormone therapy, I carry the scars of that trauma.

Hormonal intervention to help address gender dysphoria is still incredibly difficult to access, especially for those of us in low-income situations. People often don’t understand how hard it is to wake up in a body that feels like a prison and to carry the weight of that disconnect every single day.

The Weight of Rejection

Rejection cuts deep—whether it comes from family, friends, or a crush. Not being wanted, not being chosen, not being seen is devastating. For me, rejection shaped my entire outlook. I began to overthink everything, becoming hyper-vigilant and constantly second-guessing myself.

I was fortunate enough to come from a relatively tolerant family, but I had to fight for that tolerance. I stood firm in my truth and refused to apologise for my existence. I did not choose to be transgender. I was simply born this way—innocently—and for that, I should not need to seek forgiveness.

Yet, the feeling of not being enough never fully goes away. The idea that my joy, my love, and my existence are somehow taboo is heartbreaking. The emotional toll of not feeling valued has led me to withdraw from the world more times than I can count.

Fighting Social Inequity

Sanctions on our very existence are cruel and unjust. Society cannot—and should not—decide who is worthy of opportunity, dignity, or life itself.

Not finding a job within the formal market just because I am transgender is frustrating. We all need jobs and opportunities to carve a life for ourselves and that of our families.  I dream of accessing gender-affirming healthcare, like vaginoplasty, and finally feeling whole in my body. But systemic discrimination blocks that path.

I recall being shortlisted for an administrative position at the Ministry of Agriculture. Despite several panellists respectfully addressing me as “Ms,” one persisted in misgendering me as “Mr.” I was not surprised when I never got a call back.

The harsh reality of employment discrimination has led so many of my trans sisters to turn to survival sex work, risking violence and murder out there on the streets.

Becoming a Mental Health Warrior

Transphobia baffles me. What have we done to deserve such hate? We are just trying to live and coexist in an already fractured society. But hatred has never made sense.

These experiences, painful as they are, pushed me to fight back—not with anger, but with purpose. I became a mental health warrior. I founded EquiMind Namibia, an organisation focused on comprehensive mental health services for the queer community.

Because what is health without mental health? And how can we talk about mental health if we ignore the critical lens of gender identity?

The trans community deserves more—more compassion, more understanding, and more access to mental health care tailored to our realities. We are not broken. We are resilient. But we should never have to be this strong just to survive.

 

Article by Ziggy Porsche #Eixas, a trans-identifying activist from Windhoek, Namibia who volunteers as a psychosocial support counsellor at Lifeline/Childline Namibia. They recently founded a CSO called EquiMind Namibia with a mandate to offer robust and comprehensive mental health support to the gender and sexual minorities.

---

This article was made possible with the support of the Other Foundation. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the Other Foundation. www.theotherfoundation.org.

©2025 MambaOnline. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and MambaOnline, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.