Gender Dysphori Misunderstood.

Many people have strong opinions pertaining to transgender folk and their rights. It’s becoming more and more of a political issue, especially since North Carolina’s proposal of the “bathroom bill” which declares people should be required by law to use restrooms matching with the sex on their birth certificate. Transgenders have been in a controversial spotlight for just about a decade now, and many people are perplexed. An even more controversial topic is transgender youth. Should transgender teens be allowed to go undergo hormone therapy before adulthood? Transitioning genders is a very long, very complex process. Usually, if a child or young teen wants to transition to the opposite gender, they are given “hormone blockers,” which are agents used to suppress sex hormones and prevent puberty. Hormone blockers make it easier and more effective to achieve the desired physical appearance in gender transition. They also help with gender dysphoria. When transgender people are ready to start the transition, they are given hormones which cause their bodies to develop into the desired form. Gender transition is a very complex process that works differently for everyone, and it definitely makes sense how many people disagree with minors going through such a complicated physical change.

Only 5% of these females experienced gender dysphoria- which shows that other factors are important in gender development and that hormones weren’t a key factor of determining gender in this study. This criticism of the biological approach shows that it is too reductionist, in that it ignores other factors. As well it is deterministic, as it reduces human behaviour down to simply biology and the act of hormones on gender development, ignoring social and cultural influence.

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,

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

One potential solution to the ethical issues presented here is to rid the DSM of Gender Dysphoria. Doing so would eliminate stigmatization and discrimination associated with having a mental diagnosis for those who are unhappy with their gender. Additionally, psychologists would no longer be making diagnoses that are not founded on scientific evidence. However, the Gender Dysphoria diagnosis makes it so health insurance must cover hormone replacement therapy, sex reassignment surgery, and psychotherapy because it is a diagnosis. The ICD Transsexualism diagnosis is still available, however, the Transsexualism diagnosis focuses on individuals who wish to change their sex characteristics. Therefore, children, adolescents and adults who are experiencing distress due to their gender identity, but do not wish to undergo hormone replacement therapy or sex reassignment, may not have access to psychotherapy or counseling because it is not covered by their health insurance.

I must start out by saying that this story has brought tears to my eyes and is so incredibly disheartening. I am angry at the parents for making such, in my opinion, a terrible decision in turning their baby boy, into a girl. It breaks my heart for him in that he was never given a choice or a chance at living a normal, happy life. I am not an expert on how to fix a penis if it is burned off, but I have to believe there was a better way.

Steensma et al. (2010) conducted a qualitative study based on biographical interviews on twenty-five adolescents who were diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder in childhood. From the ages of 10 to 13 years old, they considered that time period to be crucial for adolescents with persisting gender dysphoria and adolescents with desisting gender dysphoria. Both persisters and desisters claimed that the factors that influenced their gender-related interests and behavior and feelings of gender discomfort and gender identification were the changes in their social environment, the anticipated and actual feminization or masculinization of their bodies, and the first experiences of falling in love and sexual attraction. Persisters are defined in

Regardless if someone agrees or disagrees with what someone does with their life, most people understand that life is precious no matter what. One controversial issue that appears in many people’s life is gender dysphoria, which is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as, “involve[ing] a conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify” (“What Is Gender Dysphoria?”). In some individual’s opinion, the solution for gender dysphoria, which is when individuals transition to the gender they identify as, should not exist. People going or wanting to go through this transition identify as transgender, shortened as trans. Regardless if people agree or disagree with the transition, the

What is gender dysphoria? Gender dysphoria is defined as “a mental disorder marked by a strong desire to be of the opposite gender and identifying oneself as a person of the opposite gender”,(Kearney) which is also known as transsexualism. To fully understand this condition, symptoms, causes, and treatment should be discussed. How does being transsexual affect them in the long run with or without therapies?

In the early 1980’s, “transsexualism” is an official disorder in the DSM-III and is eventually changed to “gender identity disorder” in DSM-IV. In 1987, the DSM-III0R reclassified gender identity disorders into four sub-types: Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood, Transsexualism, Gender Identity Disorder of Adolescence or Adulthood, and Gender Identity Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. In the early 1990’s many transgender rights activist groups are formed. In 1999, gender dysphoria becomes classified as a medical condition and not a state of mind

It primarily focuses on hormonal and surgical interventions, which is the main form of treatment right now when it comes to Gender Dysphoria. This article helped link Gender Dysphoria to the career of bioethics by bioethicists look at the best and most ethical treatments when it comes certain disorders and situations. With Gender Dysphoria being a highly controversial topic, it would not be surprising if bioethicists started looking at the most ethical and beneficial treatment, so this article helped provide information on possible treatment options. When working with someone with Gender Dysphoria, this article helped show how important it is to find the right solution to help that individual, so they can live a happier and better life. Even though the treatment has not been said to be ethical in some bioethical communities, this information helped show that these treatments may be the most beneficial and ethical when it comes to helping these individuals and the goal is to help these individuals in the best way possible. Also, in the field of bioethics, going out and doing field research with individuals who have received treatments should be important and this article helped connect that so you can understand what these individuals are going through and the effects of the treatment. It is important to gain information and be understanding when dealing with individuals with Gender

Those who suffer with the tough decision concerning gender are said to have gender dysphoria, A Gender Identity Disorder that focuses on transgenderism. Gender dysphoria is a condition in which there is a conflict between a person 's physical gender and the gender he or she identifies with (Medline Plus, 2014). Transgender individuals feel as if they were born in the wrong body and would love to be considered a member of the opposite sex, especially once their bodies start to change as they grow up. Most youth reported feeling they were transgender at puberty (Grossman & D 'augelli, 2006). During puberty the youth’s family and daily interactions at school play a critical part in life. During this time, children believe they will grow up to become the opposite sex (Medline Plus, 2014). As stated in “The Transgender Child”, “No one knows how common transgender children are. Some gender specialists say that 1 in 500 children is significantly gender-variant or transgender” (Brill & Pepper, 2008). These students go through school trying to fit in just to be accepted by the society around them, even though they were just disappointed by the fact that their bodies didn’t change. Youth noted four problems related to their vulnerability in health-related areas: the lack of safe environments, poor access to physical health services, inadequate resources to address their mental health concerns, and a lack of continuity of caregiving by

Treatment options for gender dysphoria have evolved since the 1950s when the first sex reassignment surgery was performed. The evolution of this medical intervention has allowed for a complex arena of highly controversial criteria on which to base treatment options. The discussion of who should or should not undergo intervention drove further the discussion of whom is

Deogracias, J., Johnson, L., Meyer-Bahlburg, H., Kessler, S., Schober, J., & Zucker, K. (2007). The Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults. The Journal of Sex Research, 44(4), 370.

Gender identity gives us a distinction between two different genetic sex that was determined at birth or describing yourself to be a male or female based on your body parts. Gender Dysphoria is a word to describe an individual who is battling with their own sense of reality towards their gender they were given from birth to how they feel they should be seen as when they look at themselves in the mirror. I think that everyone should love themselves no matter what and if there are some adjustments that they feel should be done in order to help boost their low self-esteem than why not, but when the problem is making you want to take your own life or develop self-hate towards their own body or appearance, then the person should go seek professional