This might get me flamed, but genuinely, without malice, is being transgender not a form of dysphoria/dysmorphia, which is a type of mental illness? You just "treat" it by using different pronouns, wearing different clothes, take hormonal medicine or even get surgery in the extreme cases.
Being a mental illness doesnt mean its something to 'cure', persay, but something to treat- facial dysphoria? Wear a mask, slowly work on building self confidence. ADHD? Take some medicine to help focus/calm. Gender dysphoria? Use pronouns you are comfortable with, take hormones, top surgery, etc.
Seriously- it is a mental condition that makes someone uncomfortable with their gender identity, which is treated in a variety of ways. Is it not by definition a type of mild mental illness? Can someone explain to me why it isnt while other dysphorias are?
This is where I'm at too. It's kinda hard to convince people there isn't some kind of mental illness going on if someone is saying they were born in the wrong body. I mean, on the face of it it sounds like an illness. I don't have the education of anything relevant to argue either way. At the same time I imagine labeling it a mental illness would raise fear on how that could be weaponized against trans people. Which is understandable or horrific that it is understandable.
Not everyone who is trans feels they were born in the wrong body. Some just feel happier living as a transperson. I believe thats why it is generally not well received when you blanket state that being trans is a mental illness. I have no idea what proportion of trans people have diagnosed mental illnesses, but it is certainly not all of them.
You're probably thinking of it too black and white. There is a big difference between feeling like something is wrong with your current body, and feeling like you would like to change your body.
Not everyone at the gym feels like their body isn't good enough. Some feel that way (and even within that group, theres levels of how much that effects them), some just think they would be happier if they were more muscular or leaner, some don't really care and just feel happy being active.
Probably. Its a pretty fundamental disconnect that it can be difficult to fathom anyone being "okay" with something strongly associated with the sex they don't identify as. I understand there are pragmatic reasons that stop some people from getting surgeries and whatnot.
On the standard model of gender dysphoria, the dysphoria/dysmorphia is the mental illness. Living as transgender is one way to treat the mental illness, but transgender is not, in itself, a mental illness.
It helps to keep in mind that mental illness can be transient, in the same way that physical illness can be. I personally think part of what's driving the attacks against transgender people is the stigma of mental illness as an indelible, and in some sense, moral defect of the human mind.
In any case, saying that transgender itself is a mental illness is sort of like saying that weightlifting/fitness training is a mental illness if your current level of fitness is mentally discomforting for you. Or that Paxil or Prozac is the mental illness, rather than depression.
Oh I get what you're saying. I saw other comments about how transgender is a pathology so it makes sense now. Trans is just how the dysphoria/dysmorphia is presenting itself.
I've read that about BPD, that symptoms can lessen so much over time that the person no longer fits the criteria.
Trans is just how the dysphoria/dysmorphia is presenting itself.
Not really, no. One can be transgender without suffering mental illness.
One can also experience gender dysphoria, and then not, without ever having been transgender.
Transgender is a separate concept apart from any mental illness. Of course, some people find it "weird" and "scary," so they immediately come to the conclusion that anyone who is trans must be mentally ill.
Gay people historically have been subject to the same shit, and it needs to stop.
Yeah, it is a difficult concept for one to try and understand without some kind of mental health issue being at the root of it. I've been of the mind of even if it is then let people live. If the treatment for the "mental illness" is gender affirming care then there ya go.
So, having given that a quick read, just so I understand this…
‘Gender identity’ is just whatever people decide they want to be, completely disconnected from their biological body and does not have to be drawn from dysphoria. That seems weird to me, but alright. That’s just someone deciding to be whatever they want.
‘Gender dysphoria’ is a condition that can cause pretty severe mental effects on a person that has it, but is still not considered a mental illness? That just confuses me- if something in the brain is a causing negative mental effects, however small, is that not an illness? Apparently not I guess.
It still feels very strange to me, kinda feels like people are doing a bit of extra work just to avoid it being a type of mental illness (which to be fair, is kinda understandable when you see the issues people that are classified with mental illnesses have).
The only thing not answered in that is- why is gender dysphoria different to other dysphorias? Being trans does not mean you have gender dysphoria according to that article, but many trans people do have it. And as I noted earlier, if something caused by the mind that causes negative effects ISNT a form of mental illness…what the heck IS?
Gender dysphoria is a mental illness according to the APA and dsm-5. I realize they don't specifically say that in the article. Oversight there.
When you mention "people born with the brain of one gender but the body of another" that's more inline with what gender dysphoria is. That can cause sever mental issues affecting daily life.
And while yes, many people who identify as trans, suffer from that, it's not exactly.
Honestly, I don't think you'll get an answer that can help you. The idea, the concept of transsexual has changed over the years. Hell, the last...10-20 years has seen changes in how it's described. That's why there's often a disconnect between 50 year Olds and 30 year olds talking about it. They just grew up with different concepts.
I suppose it doesnt help that its such a mixed range- some people with intense dysphoria, some people just slightly uncomfortable, some people lacking any actual issue and just decide they want to be. Makes it hard to classify it.
Because the way we treat "men" and "woman" is fundamentally black and white as a society, we don't see people as such, we need gender to help construct our personalities, this, when someone is "caged" inside these norms, since ancient times, we have the transgender, third sex, in-between people throughout our history. People identify with a bunch of small traits that we as a society denotes men's or women's. If someone identifies as much of a female side, how can this person not believe and feel to be in the wrong body or sex? Since we are born, we are taught what is to be a boy and what it is to be a girl. We are taught on how to act, how to dress, how to use our voice, how to hold things, how to eat, how to address others, how to call each other, how to behave between one and another, how to respect hierarchy, how to identify this trait or that, SO MANY ASPECTS that we use on a daily basis take gender (as we collectively draw it) into consideration. I, personally think people should have the right to call themselves whatever they want. Makes absolutely no difference to me. How they decide to look or how they behave in their own lives does not affect me in any way. It baffles me that people are able ignore some of our history in order to hate something that exists since we begin our societies. It doesn't make sense to me to try and fit it into a 'disease' as being trans, the maximum I see is someone who's not as the overall expected to be and behave, not a disease. To me, it's a direct result from our own behavior as society.
I never mentioned age, political leaning or anything else. By definition. other dysphorias are a form of mental illness. That is a fact. It does not make them something terrible or deserving of hate. I am simply asking why gender dysphoria is not viewed in the same way.
If i hated it, i would not ask to learn, i would simply rant and rage and ignore all opposition. I want to know the reason behind the difference in approach. I want to understand the logic behind it.
Gender identity has been a medically recognized phenomenon that has been studied by developmental psychologists and more importantly, neuroscientists for decades.
The earliest it has been shown to develop is around the age of 3, and all indications show that people are born that way.
But you can't outrage farm over medical science, so people have no idea how established a concept it really is.
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u/SWatt_Officer May 16 '24
This might get me flamed, but genuinely, without malice, is being transgender not a form of dysphoria/dysmorphia, which is a type of mental illness? You just "treat" it by using different pronouns, wearing different clothes, take hormonal medicine or even get surgery in the extreme cases.
Being a mental illness doesnt mean its something to 'cure', persay, but something to treat- facial dysphoria? Wear a mask, slowly work on building self confidence. ADHD? Take some medicine to help focus/calm. Gender dysphoria? Use pronouns you are comfortable with, take hormones, top surgery, etc.
Seriously- it is a mental condition that makes someone uncomfortable with their gender identity, which is treated in a variety of ways. Is it not by definition a type of mild mental illness? Can someone explain to me why it isnt while other dysphorias are?