[graemep]

It is far from certain that he committed suicide:

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-18561092

IIRC part of the coroner's reasoning is that "In a man of his type, one never knows what his mental processes are going to do next."

So essentially they concluded it was suicide because something about Turing (gay? academic? gay academic?) was regarded as indicating instability. I very much doubt a coroner today would follow that reasoning!

[tim333]

From that article he died of cyanide poisoning and while he as doing an experiment with that it is likely "the experiment was a ruse to disguise suicide, a scenario Turing had apparently mentioned to a friend in the past."

[telesilla]

Bear in mind he was given hormones. As I'm from that half of the population who experiences hormone fluctuations but it's part of what women expect so we know about this and plan for it and support each other, I'd not be surprised if he was unaware of how his emotional state might be affected.

Having said that, I'd like to see research on emotional states in male to female transitions, we should have plenty of data?

[dspillett]

And those hormones where specifically intended as chemical castration, reducing or removing libido (or the possibility of acting upon it). I assume this is more likely to have depression as a side effect than the concoctions we use for birth control in early/mid life and treating the effects of menopause later, as it is explicitly damping physical feelings. We also understand the effects of such treatments much better today than we did back then (still not well enough, it could be argued, but definitely better) and many things prescribed back then wound be considered dangerous now, so he may have had a relatively rough ride. This is speculation of course, though with a better foundation IMO than some of the other comments in this thread…

[trealira]

I'll only say this due to anonymity, but: mistakenly thinking I was trans, I once took testosterone blockers and estrogen for about a month (having bought them online probably illegally).

After a week, I was on the verge of tears pretty much 24/7, and I did cry whenever I was alone in my room. It's crazy how much I cried; I had never cried so much before in my life. My mood was much worse, obviously, since I was crying so much; I was crying due to sadness.

I'm pretty sure women aren't on the verge of tears 24/7 when they're menstruating or pregnant. So from my anecdotal experience, I'm convinced that the same hormone levels affect men and women differently.

I have read anecdotes from detransitioned FtMtFs that they had abnormally short tempers while taking testosterone. So, it may go the other way, too.

[joseda-hg]

To some extent, their body might be more "used" to it? I wouldn't whink a month would be enough for the body to actually get used to having a major hormone blocked and replaced with a diferent one

[telesilla]

Natural female hormones are only high a few days a month, yes. And we're so used to it, we get prepared and tell our partners we'll cry and be angry for no reason, and get ice-cream and chocolate in the house and maybe even take time of work if lucky enough. But it's not for very long, and there is a theory that you only get sad and angry if you have something sad or angry to be about, which I partially agree with. But the physical low is real, regardless of what emotions are going on.

[trealira]

You may be right that the body could adapt and eventually I might have just stopped feeling that way. I just decided to stop after a month because I thought I wasn't really trans and because I didn't want to feel so sad anymore.

But, I posted it because it may be that Turing also felt depressed, because they blocked his testosterone and gave him estrogen. Maybe the drugs put him in a suicidal state that he wouldn't have otherwise been in.

[ciiu]

> Having said that, I'd like to see research on emotional states in male to female transitions, we should have plenty of data?

According to subreddits that the MtFs use, it's mostly sexual arousal. "Euphoria boners" and suchlike.

[pwdisswordfishc]

Yeah but that's because "trans" is nothing more than a sexual fetish to these men. They objectify women and get off on it, using their own bodies to construct the erotic target.

[temporarely]

It's possible he was considered a security risk. Turing must have been very upset to keep quiet about precedence in terms of discoveries. I wonder if Shannon got under his skin ..