CNN
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Skyler Viral was assigned female at birth. However, as a child, he could not shake his sense that he could not grow into a woman.
“One of my earliest sexual memories was of growing up and being a father,” Bailer said. “I was going to grow up and be a grandpa. I was going to be a man when I grew up.”
Despite his bright personality, Bailer, a 27-year-old transgender man now living in New York City, didn’t know how to describe it as a child. From the age of five or his six, he refused clothing and other adornments associated with girlhood. As a swimmer, he refused to wear a girl’s bathing suit, opting instead for a full-body wetsuit. He claimed to be a tomboy.
Given the changes puberty brings to his body, he was filled with anxiety and fear, turning his thoughts away and focusing more on swimming. But a bicycle accident broke his hip the summer before his 11th grade, and “everything fell apart,” he said.
The gender-related turmoil that had been quelled by swimming surfaced as eating disorders, depression and self-harm, and Bailar felt out of control.
Ms. Beiler experienced gender dysphoria, the psychological pain and discomfort some people feel when there is a difference between the gender they were assigned at birth and their gender identity, said Jonah Dechanz, a senior researcher at the institute. said. trevor projecta suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth.
This discomfort can arise in social settings, for example, when others refer to the person with the wrong gender pronoun, or when, as in Ms. Bairard’s case, the person’s body does not match their gender identity. Dechants said there is a possibility.
Gender represents the biological sex to which a person is assigned at birth. the individual’s gender is based on biological properties Masculinity or femininity as indicated by chromosomes, gonads, hormones, and reproductive organs. Gender, on the other hand, relates to the behaviors, attitudes, and emotions that culture associates with someone’s biological sex, stating that gender is a social identity and a social construction. American Psychological Association.
Gender identity, which is one aspect of gender, is a person’s “psychological sense of one’s own gender.” American Psychological Association Say.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, less than 0.1% of the population, or 1 in 1,000, is diagnosed with gender dysphoria. However, this figure is based solely on the number of people seeking gender reassignment treatment at clinics.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, gender dysphoria usually begins in childhood, sometimes as early as age three. But Dr. Jack Dresher, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City, said symptoms can occur at any time in life.
To be diagnosed with gender dysphoria, an adolescent or adult must experience certain criteria for gender dysphoria in addition to clinically significant distress or impairment. According to the American Psychiatric Association. Not all people who do not identify with their assigned gender experience gender dysphoria, especially distress or disability.
Some of these criteria vary by age, but generally include: Conflict between one’s gender identity and primary and/or secondary sex characteristics. (Primary sex characteristics are ovaries or testes Secondary sex characteristics are features that accompany maturation, such as voice, facial hair, breast size, and height. )
People with gender dysphoria may have a strong desire to get rid of their primary or secondary sex characteristics or to have characteristics that match their gender identity. These people may also prefer clothing, activities, toys, play, or social treatment traditionally associated with a different gender than their assigned gender.
According to Dr. Amir Ahuja, director of psychiatry at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, distress related to gender dysphoria includes anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, or hypervigilance due to social abuse. President of the LGBTQ+ Psychiatrist Association. Someone’s distress can be severe enough to interfere with the person’s ability to live. You may not be able to sleep, focus on school or work, eat well, pay your bills on time, socialize or clean the house, he added.
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health problems, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 (or 800-273-8255) to connect with a trained counselor. , please visit: NSPL site.
Gender dysphoria is diagnosed as a mental disorder because it is included in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also known as the DSM, experts say. (The DSM is a handbook used by medical professionals as a definitive guide in diagnosing mental disorders.)
However, gender disparity—having a gender identity other than the one assigned at birth—does not make gender dysphoria a psychotic disorder. Ahuja said the clinically significant discomfort around the discrepancy is what makes it an obstacle.
“Like all DSM disorders, one key component of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc. is that it must be impaired in functioning, otherwise it counts as a diagnosis. No,” he added.
Including gender dysphoria in the DSM is also necessary to receive gender-affirming care. So, for Dechants of the Trevor Project, whether gender dysphoria is included in the DSM is partly a practical question.
“We need to do more to eliminate stigma and make people understand that being transgender is not a mental illness,” he said. “We want to move away from DSM.”
But for people to get treatment in the U.S. healthcare system, having a diagnostic code for gender dysphoria in the DSM means people can take out insurance to pay for treatment, Dechanz said.
People deal with gender dysphoria in different ways and usually fall into several categories, but the American Psychiatric Association said not everyone needs all the different types of support. I’m here.
People may explore their experiences with gender identity and expression with a therapist. When Mr. Bailer underwent treatment for an eating disorder at a residential treatment center, where he spent more than four months, a therapist there helped him recognize that he was transgender.
The person’s loved ones may try family or couples therapy or support groups to share their experiences and help foster a supportive environment for someone with gender dysphoria.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, “familial and societal rejection of gender identity is one of the strongest predictors of transgender mental health difficulties,” and therefore Affirmations can also be important.
Bailar’s family and Harvard swimming coach supported him, The first openly transgender athlete Participate in all sports on the National University Athletic Association Division 1 men’s team.
What the American Psychiatric Association calls social affirmation, someone can appear to adopt various gender pronouns, as well as other aspects of gender expression, such as clothing, which Mr. Beiler points out to children. That’s what I used to do all along.
You may be able to legally affirm yourself by changing the name and gender on your government ID.
According to Dechanz, so-called medical affirmations include puberty blockers that suspend puberty, giving adolescents time to think about their identities and parents to weigh their options. Give time. Hormones for teenagers and adults help develop features such as facial hair (which uses testosterone) and a soft voice (which uses estrogen).
Some adults choose surgical affirmations to remove, add, or change some of their sexual characteristics. Beiler underwent upper surgery (a double mastectomy) in March 2015 and started hormone therapy a few months later.
Nearly a decade later, Beiler is happy, he said. He is a newlywed, author and speaker who spends most of his time educating others about gender.his upcoming book “He/She/Them: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters” Released in October.
“Gender-affirming care has played a big role in alleviating gender dysphoria,” he says. “I love being transgender and I’m so happy because the love, support and freedom I experience being transgender far outweighs any negatives. , Negative thoughts exist because people are transphobic, not because I am trans.”
