Editing Conversion therapy (section)

==Effects==
{{expand section|date=June 2022}}
There is a scientific consensus that conversion therapy is ineffective at changing a person's [[sexual orientation]].<ref name=":0"/> Advocates of conversion therapy rely heavily on testimonials and retrospective self-reports as evidence of effectiveness. Studies purporting to validate the effectiveness of efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity have been criticized for methodological flaws.{{sfn|Haldeman|2022|p=7}} After conversion therapy has failed to change someone's sexual orientation or gender identity, participants often feel increased shame that they already felt over their sexual orientation or gender identity.{{sfn|Haldeman|2022|p=9}}

Conversion therapy can cause significant, long-term psychological harm.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Higbee |first1=Madison |last2=Wright |first2=Eric R. |last3=Roemerman |first3=Ryan M. |title=Conversion Therapy in the Southern United States: Prevalence and Experiences of the Survivors |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |date=2022 |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=612–631 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2020.1840213|pmid=33206024 |s2cid=227039714 }}</ref> This includes significantly higher rates of [[Major depressive disorder|depression]], [[substance abuse]], and other mental health issues in individuals who have undergone conversion therapy than their peers who did not,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Christensen |first=Jen |date=2022-03-08 |title=Conversion therapy is harmful to LGBTQ people and costs society as a whole, study says |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/07/health/conversion-therapy-personal-and-financial-harm/index.html |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=1 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201070406/https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/07/health/conversion-therapy-personal-and-financial-harm/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> including a suicide attempt rate nearly twice that of those who did not.<ref>{{Cite web |last=thisisloyal.com |first=Loyal {{!}} |title=LGB people who have undergone conversion therapy almost twice as likely to attempt suicide |url=https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/press/lgb-suicide-ct-press-release/ |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Williams Institute |language=en-US}}</ref> Modern-day practitioners of conversion therapy—primarily from a conservative religious viewpoint—disagree with current [[evidence-based medicine]] and clinical guidance that does not view [[homosexuality]] and [[gender variance]] as unnatural or unhealthy.<ref name=":0" />{{sfn|Haldeman|2022|p=5}}

In 2020, [[ILGA|ILGA World]] published a world survey and report ''[[ILGA#Curbing Deception|Curbing Deception]]'' listing consequences and life-threatening effects by associating specific public testimonies with different types of methods used to practice conversion therapies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ilga.org/resources/conversion-therapy-global-research-ilga-world-curbing-deception-february-2020/|title=Curbing deception – A world survey of legal restrictions of so-called 'conversion therapies'|first=Lucas Ramón |last=Mendos|website=ILGA World}}</ref>

A 2022 study estimated that conversion therapy of youth in the United States cost $650.16 million annually with an additional $9.5 billion in associated costs such as increased suicide and substance abuse.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Forsythe |first1=Anna |last2=Pick |first2=Casey |last3=Tremblay |first3=Gabriel |last4=Malaviya |first4=Shreena |last5=Green |first5=Amy |last6=Sandman |first6=Karen |title=Humanistic and Economic Burden of Conversion Therapy Among LGBTQ Youths in the United States |journal=JAMA Pediatrics |date=2022 |volume=176 |issue=5 |pages=493–501 |doi=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.0042|pmid=35254391 |pmc=8902682 |s2cid=247252995 }}</ref> Youth who undergo conversion therapy from a religious provider have more negative mental health outcomes than those who had consulted a licensed healthcare provider.{{sfn|Haldeman|2022|p=9}}