GAS

It's a part of economics that states that when you have more of something or if something becomes more easily available more of it will be used. This applies to more than just things it also applies to services. Sometimes the need for something outpaces the availability of that something and this seems to be the case with school counselors. More and more students find themselves in need of counseling and the question is why. The three top reasons students seek help are low self-esteem, social isolation and trauma and experts say that these can be traced back to social media. Students compare their personal situations with others on their phone and feel they don't measure up, not realizing that much of what the see on the phone is not real. It is like the old magazine pictures of female models where the photos have been touched up and in real life very few look like that. In some extreme cases students come to believe that they are the wrong gender and this is becoming more prevalent. The number of gender-affirming surgeries (GAS) in the United States has increased significantly over time. According to a study published in JAMA Network Open in August 2023, the number of GAS procedures increased from 4,552 in 2016 to 13,011 in 2019, and then slightly decreased to 12,818 in 2020. This represents a fivefold increase in procedures between 2016 and 2021. The study's researchers believe the actual numbers are higher due to data limitations.