Gender Dysphoria

I want to take some time to step back from politics and go off on a tangent. I've written a few recent posts on transgender issues and think they're really important. I'm also really interested in mental health issues surrounding transsexualism. So, I'm gonna halt my political rhetoric and take some time to talk about gender identity disorder (GID) and gender dysphoria. GID and gender dysphoria are practically the same thing: GID is a conflict between a person's physical gender and the gender he or she identifies as; gender dysphoria is the term used to describe that specific conflict.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Edition), also known as the DSM-5, serves as a universal authority for psychiatric diagnosis. It controversially classifies GID/gender dysphoria as a mental disorder. It specifically notes that the GID must continue for at least six months in a patient. It lists various direct characteristics of GID: cross dressing, playing with toys traditionally used by the other sex, etc. However, it fails to list indirect characteristics of GID. I found a really cool blog post that complements the DSM-5's controversial classification very well. I highly recommend reading it.

Anyways, that's all for today. Just wanted to make some personal commentary on transgender issues and direct you to a great article. Until next time!

Hillary Swank plays a female-to-male transgender in a 90's production called "Boys Don't Cry".