Mental Disorders And Gender Roles

Transgender is ‘an umbrella term that refers to those with identities that cross over, move between,or otherwise challenge the socially constructed border between the genders. While this can include medical or social transition, it may not.’ There is a difference between transgenders and transsexuals. Transsexuals do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth and wish to ‘correct’ their gender through the use of medical intervention. These two terms however, are nearly synonymous in our culture and we tend to refer to people who wish to live as a different gender than the one they were assigned when they were born as transgenders, since the term is broader and more recognizable.

The depiction of gender roles and the stigma of mental illness in “The Yellow Wallpaper” can be elucidated in different ways. When reading the actual piece, the narrator really does seem to have a very difficult time in her life. It is obvious through several of the articles that she has had a difficult time trying to find her identity, and it has shown through her mental stability. The comparison of the Panopticon method and Gilman’s own experiences helps to provide a clearer view as to what she was actually experiencing in the time that she was confined to her room. By the end of “The Yellow Wallpaper” Gilman seems to have escaped from the thing that was holding her back, but did she really escape completely? I am not sure if someone

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

A person who identifies as transgender is one who expresses a gender identity that differs from the one that corresponds with their assigned sex. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female, or any other gender. Gender expression refers to the way someone communicates their gender identity, whether it’s through the clothing they wear, their hairstyle, or their voice and body characteristics. Although some may not be aware, sex and gender aren’t synonyms. Sex is assigned at birth and refers to a person’s biological status whereas gender is based on socially constructed roles, behaviors and attributes that given societies consider appropriate for men or women. People who fall under the transgender umbrella may identify

Gender dysphoria is the formal diagnosis for people who experience distress over their assigned physical sex and/or societal gender. People who suffer from this are colloquially called trans men (female to male) and trans women (male to female) respectively. Often, a trans person will elect to undergo medical transitioning to better align their physical body with their mind. As one can expect, transitioning is an arduous process which can include a plethora of medical treatments, such as hormone replacement therapy, mastectomy / breast augmentation, masculinization / feminization facial surgeries, hysterectomy, etc. Trans people who physically transition are said to be transsexual, due to the change of their physical sex instead of simply the change of how they present themselves. Transitioning is often seen as the pentacle of a trans person’s life, and it is a significant, political issue in the LGBT community.

Whether transgenderism should be considered a mental illness is the subject of much dispute (Comer, 2014). Although individuals with GD in Western society show considerably higher levels of depressive and anxious symptoms than the general population, this does not hold true in all societies. For instance, gender atypical males in Samoan society, called Fa’afafine, do not show any unusually high rates of psychological distress (Vasey & Bartlett, 2007). The same is true of Hijra, or third gender people, throughout India and other parts of South Asia (Nanda, 1990). This is likely due to the fact that these groups experience a level

The common term used is transgender. Although transgender or gender dysphoria can be described as a mental disorder, treatment does not include curing the individual. The standard treatment for transgender individuals is help alleviate the significant distress and potential social or functional impairment through transitioning, education or hormonal therapy (APA, 2013). Transgender people experience their gender differently and may choose not to pursue surgery or hormonal therapy. Several terms are included under the comprehensive term of transgender (Erickson-Schroth, 2013). Transsexual, although a dated term, generally refers to individuals that aspire to some form of surgery or hormonal treatment to complete their transformation. Genderqueer individuals may define themselves as either encompassing both genders or neither gender as defined by stereotypical roles and behaviors. Additional, terms that incorporate the conversion from assigned gender to preferred gender are male-to-female (MTF) and female-to-male (FTM). Individuals that do not have a conflict between their assigned gender and expressed gender are referred to as cisgender, which is defined as a congruent gender identity (Erickson-Schroth,

The word “transgender” is a broad term inclusive of many subgroups. Currently there is no single universal definition. For the purposes of this paper, transgender is defined as an individual whose gender expression is different from their birth sex. Sex, for the purposes of this discussion, is defined as the physical anatomy that currently defines male and female. Gender identity refers to the individual’s internal sense of being male, female, both, or neither. Transgender individuals feel discomfort between what the gender they identify internally with and their outward physical sex characteristics. Gender expression refers to how an individual presents themselves to society. Sexual orientation the physical or emotional attraction towards another person, whether male or female. This is different than gender identity. Transgender individuals may be attracted to persons of the same sex or opposite sex. This paper will address specifically the transition of those individuals born anatomically male but identify their gender identity as female. Male-to-female transgender individuals are often referred to as MTF individuals.

After the depathologization of homosexuality, the DSM included yet another disorder known as gender identity disorder (GID) (Ross, 2009; Kamens, 2011). The following are some symptoms listed under this disorder: a strong cross-gender identification, continued discomfort with one’s biological sex, and that these disturbances cause clinically significant distress or impairment in all functioning aspects of life (Hozid, 2013). The populations that became stigmatized with this new diagnosis were the transgender and queer communities. Rather than focusing on the difficulty that the individual may be experiencing due to the mismatch between their biological sex and identified gender, the DSM-IV emphasized that it is gender variance that is the source of problems for the individual’s mental well-being (Ross, 2009). Again, society’s construction of what is “correct” oppresses those who do not find themselves belonging in the gender binary. With the rising momentum in the transgender movement, GID was removed from the DSM in the year of 2012 and renamed as gender dysphoria (Erickson-Schroth, 2014). While it appears that field of mental health was becoming more conscientious of its role in politics and culture, this relabeling is not without problems, nor does it serve as a real solution to issues arising in the mental health

According to Pheil & Pheil (2005), gender identity disorders are those which stem not from the sociological pressures of conforming to certain gender traits but, instead from an internal sense or incorrect gender assignment. As Pheil & Pheil indicate, "this cross-gender identification must not merely be a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex. There must also be evidence of persistent discomfort about one's assigned sex or a sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex" (Pheil & Pheil. 1)

I have chosen to discuss the effects of anxiety and depression on transgendered people. For this paper I am using Transgender to mean: “ a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex the doctor marked on their birth certificate.” (Gladd.org)

Gender Dysphoria is defined by a person who emotionally and psychologically identifies themselves as the opposite sex. Transgender is the commonly used term to label individuals who are diagnosed with this disorder. They experience serious discomfort of the genitals they were assigned at birth. For example, if you were born as a male, later on in your toddler stages of childhood you’d feel uncomfortable playing with masculine toys or being part of the boys team in P.E. popular sayings would be “I have a girl’s mind but a boy’s body” Or “I was born in the wrong body”. Due to the lack of research and stubborn individuals in society who discriminate against transgendered people, children who have Gender Dysphoria are conflicted and misguided on

The transgender community continue to battle the acknowledgment of independent identity within society. The ongoing problem has been the continued gender crisis with mistaken the identity of transgender as the same as gay or lesbian sexuality. Gay is a term commonly used to refer to homosexuals, but transgender is the state in which a person’s gender identity does not match with his/her physical sex (Gay Couple Fertility Care, 2015, p. 1)". Transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, or asexual. It does not imply to any specific form of sexual orientation (Gay Couple Fertility Care, 2015, p. 1)".

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?

Concluding, sociological on mental illness is typically focused on identifying how social organization and processes affect mental health. Plus this orientation has tended to emphasize the impact of social structure, examining in particular the mental health consequences of socioeconomic stratification. However, other research in this tradition has emphasized gender stratification, especially differences in the occurrence of disorder between men and women, unless variation among women according to their social role occupancy.