Gender dysphoria: being born in the wrong body

What is gender dysphoria and what can people who suffer from it do?

Many people feel relatively good about their bodies; at most, they think they would be better off with a different type of hair, with more or fewer pounds on them, or with a more muscular body.

However, others feel as if their identity others feel as if their identity does not match their body because they feel they are of a gender that does not correspond to their Biological sex.. This feeling is the essence of gender dysphoria.

What is gender dysphoria?

Basically, gender dysphoria is the term used to refer to a perceived incongruence between the perceived incongruence between one's own gender identity and the sex attributed to one's own bodywhen this lack of correspondence between both elements generates discomfort.

People who experience gender dysphoria perceive their own body as something foreign, which does not belong to them, because it is of the opposite sex to what it should be. This causes them dissatisfaction to a degree that can vary greatly.

There are people for whom gender dysphoria is little more than a nuisance to others who experience profound discomfort because of it. Moreover, not all transgender people experience this psychological phenomenon.

On the other hand, non-binary people (in terms of their gender identity) may or may not develop gender dysphoria.

Transsexual people with a strong gender dysphoria tend to need their sex and gender to be aligned according to the traditional canonsor at least some aspects of it. For example, they may only feel that their body hair, or their chest, is strange.... while in other cases gender dysphoria leads to wanting to have all the typical appearance of a man and a woman, with all their primary and secondary characters.

Which people experience gender dysphoria?

Gender dysphoria can appear in all types of people, even in childhood, when they do not yet have the means to express correctly what they feel and the only way to externalize this tension between sex and gender is to reject the gender-laden elements that they want to instill in them and opt for those that correspond to the opposite sex.

In addition, it can appear in both men and women, although it is estimated that, at least in Spain, it is somewhat more frequent in men.

Is gender dysphoria a disease?

The short answer to this question is no, it is not. This is because, despite the fact that today there is still a debate as to whether or not transsexuality can be considered a mental disorder, no pathological elements related to gender dysphoria have been found that link this discomfort to biological causes, but above all because gender dysphoria can also be approached as a social and cultural problem.

According to this perspective, which avoids pathologizing gender dysphoria, it can be explained as a product of the cultural construction of gender: the feminine is related to emotionality and vulnerability, the masculine to hardness and physical violence.etc. Therefore, when there are situations in which a person's identity does not fit these gender roles, the individual may feel more identified with the gender identity that has not been assigned to him/her at birth based on rigid biological criteria.

Thus, if gender dysphoria can be solved by modifying the culture in which people live, it is impossible for it to be a disease.

However, this does not mean that for some people gender dysphoria is so strong that they decide to opt for surgery, i.e. the immediate medical route. Thus, it is possible to resort to both cosmetic surgery and sex change operations, in which important structural changes are introduced. This is considered to be a solution that reduces the stress on the patient's body. between one's own identity and the social expectations imposed on the individual based on isolated biological characteristics.

Surgery in transsexuality

As the person living with gender dysphoria notices that his or her identity and body are not in harmony, he or she often seeks help to bring these two elements into harmony, it is common for them to seek help to bring these two elements into harmony..

The most common measures for this are the use of the type of clothing that is associated with the gender of the biological sex to which one wants to belong and the use of hormones to bring about certain quantitative changes in one's body: more or less facial hair, greater or lesser development of muscles, etc.

However, it must be taken into account that this kind of process involves risks, and that even the intake of hormones can produce irreversible effects, especially if it begins in the stage of youth.

Moreover, in many cases, what was interpreted as gender dysphoria was actually a problem of another type. For example, during adolescence it is relatively common for people with sexual orientations outside of heterosexuality to mistakenly believe that they are transgender (judging from their evolution over the years as they become more informed about sexuality and the nature of gender identity).

Psychotherapy to solve gender dysphoria?

Of course, one can also consider the option of making one's identity fit better with one's body, rather than physically modifying one's body. However, psychotherapy has been shown to be ineffective in resolving the feelings of discomfort produced by gender dysphoria, so the most useful option is to use a psychotherapist.The most useful option is body and wardrobe modification.

However, this does not mean that psychotherapy is useless in dealing with such problems. In particular, psychological care can be used to prepare and accompany the transition to a body with which one's own identity fits, in order to be able to face the new needs and problems related to the transition to the other sex in good conditions.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5 Fact Sheets, Updated Disorders: Gender Dysphoria (Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 2013): 2.
• Asenjo Araque, N., García Gibert, C., Rodríguez-Molina, J. M., Becerra-Fernández, A., Lucio Pérez, M. J. (2009). Gender dysphoria in childhood and adolescence: a review of its approach, diagnosis and persistence. Journal of Clinical Psychology with Children and Adolescents, 2(1), pp. 33 - 36.
• Gijs, L; Brawaeys, A (2007). "Surgical Treatment of Gender Dysphoria in Adults and Adolescents: Recent Developments, Effectiveness, and Challenges". Annual Review of Sex Research. 18 (178–224).
• Zucker, K., J.; Lawrence, A.A.; Kreukels, B.P.C. (2016). Gender Dysphoria in Adults. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology. 12: 217–247.