In a roundabout way you are agreeing with me. We are both saying that the choice (yes) of trans is in response to pain more than the origin of pain. And since these are terrible times the pressures on adolescents experiencing the hormone storms of adolescence are worse than they were for us.

Unhappy people grasp for escapes. A gender change is a pretty big one.

"there's a huge chance that the normal discomfort they feel with their changing bodies will be "diagnosed" by somebody around them as them being trans."

How is this different from what I said about it being a trend? A fad? Diagnosed by somebody around them isn't a reference to a qualified counselor, it's a reference to a peer.

We can politely disagree on the degree to which going "trans" is elective; we will be quibbling over percentages, not a productive conversation without data. Certainly it is elective for some. And given the intensity of affirmation pressure, this is dangerous. From "maybe I'm trans" to surgery in a few scant months.