Hating your body is probably incredibly stressful. Imagine the mental toll of telling others you hate your body and they excitedly agree that you should and it’s good. No sane person would do that to a bulimic person who believes theyre fat while starving themselves to death.

Affirming the incorrect gender is like agreeing the bulimic person is fat, it’s cruel and unhelpful. But the mentally ill in this way do have a fleeting moment they feel relief from receiving bad input because being told their misery is a physical issue to let’s them imagine it’s something that can be dealt with as a physical problem. But it’s not a physical problem, it’s about needing to accept their body as it is.

While I detest the ideology they spread, I do suspect many of them are legitimately suffering badly and this mental illness is contagious among the frail. Let this be a sign to us to watch for the well being of those we know, to remember to give appropriate compliments and encourage them to be their healthiest self so they can life long happy lives.