What don't you get?
Mental illness manifests itself in many ways - some do drugs, some commit suicide, etc.
It wouldn't have made a difference if these people got the surgery or not - they would have continued to self-focus and destory themselves eventually, only it would have been by the own hand and it wouldn't result in newspaper article.
Fortunately, most people on the thread "get" it. Undergoing sexual mutilation will worsen preexisting conditions and create new unmanageable problems.