Gender Dysphori A Controversial Mental Disorder

Gender dysphoria is also commonly referred to as Gender Identity Disorder (GID). The disorder is in reference to the mental state of denying one’s biological sex and maintaining the belief of one’s gender does not align. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) states that to be diagnosed with “gender dysphoria,” it must persist in these individuals for at least six months ("DSM Replaces Gender Identity Disorder With Gender Dysphoria"). The solutions for ‘fixing’ this disorder are taking hormone therapy, doing gender expression therapy, or having reproductive surgery. In the transgender society, most unwillingly will be classified with gender dysphoria in order to receive any treatment to aid in the gender reversal process ("What Is Gender

Perhaps, you are asking yourself this question, what is gender dysphoria? I have the answer. Gender dysphoria is “ the diagnosis typically given to a person whose assigned birth gender is not the same as the one with which they identify.” However, let’s not confuse this with sexual orientation, this does not mean they are homosexual, this means they do not identify who they are as their given birth

In class, we have learned and discussed how during the period of adolescence, it is known that this is the period of time where individuals are finding themselves and figuring out where they belong. It is during this time where individuals are the most sensitive and personal problems tend to arise more commonly during this stage. A major issue adolescents struggle during this stage is gender identity and sexuality. Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are attracted to and how they perceive themselves to be. While the norm is to identify oneself as their biological gender, there are those who develop gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is a reoccurring feeling that one’s biological gender is the opposite of one’s sexual identity (Cole,

According to the articles, the causes of transgender is a person having vague feelings of not fitting in with people of their same sex, and some experiencing gender-conforming attitudes and behaviors later in life. A controversial cause is gender dysphoria according to the American Psychiatric Association. Gender dysphoria is defined as persistent gender incongruence. This is a very debated topic and its current classification may change in the future.

Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism published an article by Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis and Daniel Klink titled Adolescents with gender dysphoria in 2015. The article discusses the increase of youth diagnosed with gender dysphoria and receiving medical treatment and possibly surgery as well. The authors stressed the importance for psychotherapy and/or family therapy. The article also discussed the factors that influence gender development psychological, social, and biological. There are not many studies on determinants of gender dysphoria, and no epidemiological studies in children younger than 15 exist at all. Although, more recently research has focused on histological and brain imagining studies on individuals diagnosed

The study took place over the course of five years, and the 125 participants were eighteen or older at the time of enrollment. Of the 125 participants, 66 were male-to-female transgender individuals and 59 were female-to-male transgender individuals. In order to be included in the study, all participants needed to be pre-SRS, starting or willing to start CHT, and professionally diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Researchers recorded hormone dosages and treatment lengths, and administered both the Symptom Checklist and the Body Uneasiness Test to assess levels of bodily distress. The study also included a pre-SRS control group that did not engage in CHT (Fisher et. al., 2014, p.

Gender Dysphoria is a name given to the condition of children who express a gender that is opposite of their biologically given gender. Children and teens who present and verbalize the desire to be of the opposite gender for at least six months are then diagnosed and treated medically. This issue is ethically controversial due to many parents, medical doctors, mental professionals, and myself believing that biological gender identification is not fully understood until puberty has taken place, noticing that children are exposed to transgender terminology and situations on the internet that are persuasive and confusing, and being concerned about the medications used to treat a disorder that can barely be explained and is misunderstood. Medications such as hormone blockers and opposite-sex hormones have become readily available to them without any long term testing. Not only should parents, doctors, professionals, and society be concerned about the safety of these medications, we should be asking ourselves, is gender dysphoria even a medical condition that should be treated with drugs or is it a psychological disorder that should be treated with therapy? Gender Dysphoria is a condition in children and teens that the general population does not understand, however, after doing research I believe the definition of gender dysphoria is

Chapter eleven focuses on sexual disorders and gender identity disorders. For this discussion I wanted to talk about gender identity disorder. For ordinary individuals they can describe themselves or identify themselves as either males or females since we are a child. But, there are some individuals who do not experienced this type of clarity. For some individuals it is a sense that their identity is different from the gender category which they were born with or that it is something that lies outside of the usual male versus female categories. These individuals are known as transgender experiences. It is something that we are seeing more and more of in society today. Many of these transgender individuals come to terms with themselves and they find

Kristen A. Burgess, Emory University School of Medicine and Charles F Gillespie M.D., PhD, department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, state that “gender identity disorder is a mental disorder in which gender identity is incongruent with anatomical sex”. Individuals experience different degrees of unhappiness with their sex at birth, which in turn causes them to pursue the life and body of the opposite sex (2010).

Amongst disorders of modern day psychiatry, gender dysphoria (GD) is one of the more controversial diagnoses (Comer, 2014). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) defines GD, previously listed as gender identity disorder (GID), as “a marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and assigned gender, of at least 6 months duration” (as cited in APA, 2013, p. 452). Individuals with GD generally feel extreme discomfort around their assigned gender, and have a desire to change their social identity and/or secondary sex characteristics to more closely resemble those of the other gender (Comer, 2014). Treatments for GD include psychotherapy, hormone therapy, and sexual reassignment surgery.

Gender dysphoria is very stressful to the individual. It can potentially lead to internal struggles of trying to find their identity, problems with their family, problems with their partner, or even not being accepted by their peers or by society. This is why around

As early as the age of four (Vitale, 1996), some children begin to realize that the gender their body tells them they are, and the gender their mind tells them they are don't correspond. The sense of gender and the anatomical sex of a person mature at different times and different regions of the body (Vitale, 1997b). Sometimes the gendermap, the template within the mind of a person that codes for masculinity, femininity and androgyny doesn't coincide with the body of the individual (Vitale, 1997a). This condition is commonly referred to as Gender Identity Disorder (GID). GID is characterized by unrelenting confusion or discomfort of one's own

Gender Dysphoria is one of the most important issues associated with problems people have with their gender identity. Aspects of Gender Dysphoria include

Gender-Identity Disorder involve the desire to become a member of the opposite sex. A person that is identified as a girl, acts and feels like a boy. There are some factors that can play a role, but the main cause is unknown. Children with Gender-Identity disorder are likely to become homosexual as they get older. Gender-Identity disorder is NOT the same as homosexuality.

Living a life feeling out of place, with the wrong feelings, and in the wrong body, for a person with Gender Identity Disorder, this is how they feel day to day. According to the DSM-IV-TR, Gender Identity Disorder is characterized by a strong, persistent cross-gender identification, persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in their gender role of that sex. According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), children, adolescents and adults who exhibit a preoccupation with getting rid of or losing their primary and secondary sex characteristics, associated with different mannerisms and actions of the opposite sex; while holding a belief that he or she was born the wrong sex are believed to be classified