Gender dysphoria (Reading)

Trans persons can experience gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria is a distressed and/or dissociated physical and/or mental state arising from the conflict a person feels between their gender identity and their sex assigned at birth. Dysphoria can also arise from the social aspects of our gender and the gendered way people react to us (discomfort with one’s name, pronouns, social role). It can also arise from bodily aspects (e.g. trans men may feel discomfort with their chest, trans women with their neck because of their Adam’s apple etc.).

The severity of this challenge can range from mild discomfort to very serious distress.

The first signs of this dissonance come early in childhood when the person’s experiences and the impression of their gender do not match with their physical bodies. Puberty can be an upsetting experience, where the bodily changes can lead to negative feelings towards one’s body, especially when it comes to the changes of the female body with the development of secondary sex characteristics and the onset of menstruation.

It is important to note that not everyone who identifies as transgender feels discomfort related to their body, some trans persons are happy with their bodies as they are. Gender dysphoria isn’t an illness, but unadressed and unappreciated distress may be linked to mental health problems, such as anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, depression, substance abuse disorder, eating disorders, and suicide attempts.