Gender Dysphoria

The gender dysphoria is a condition that involves a conflict that arises between gender physical or assigned to a person and gender with which he, she or they are identified . People with gender dysphoria can feel very uncomfortable with the gender they were assigned or were born with. People who suffer from it sometimes describe it as a set of discomforts with their own body mainly during the puberty stage or they feel uncomfortable with the expected roles of their assigned gender. People with gender dysphoria can often experience difficultiesSignificant and functioning problems associated with this conflict between the way they feel and the way they think about themselves and their physical or assigned gender.

Causes of gender dysphoria

Gender dysphoria is a condition that generally appears early in a person’s development. Children generally begin to identify their biological sex around the age of three or four. It usually manifests itself in the refusal of children to wear clothes according to their sex, or to participate in activities or games that have been “designated” for their gender. The causes can be classified into:

• Psychiatric and biological causes:  This type of cause indicates that the condition is not specifically linked to psychiatric situations or mental ailments . Studies indicate that gender dysphoria may have associated biological causes from before birth.
• Genetic causes of biological sex:  Research explains that each individual has two sex chromosomes, one from the father and one from the mother. A man should have one X and one Y chromosome , while a woman should have two X chromosomes . Studies show that, during the early stages of pregnancy, babies are all female as only the X chromosome is active. After the 8th week of pregnancy, the father’s chromosome begins its activity.
• Hormonal changes:  hormones are responsible for triggering sex and they may not work properly. Thus, the anatomical sex can be male, but the gender identity that comes from the brain is female.
• Exposure to progesterone: It  has been shown that fetuses that are exposed to progesterone in the womb may be at high risk of gender dysphoria.
• Strange conditions: These  types of conditions include congenital hyperplasia and hermaphroditism that can lead to dysphoria. In congenital hyperplasia there is a high production of male hormones which causes that in female babies they are affected by a high production of male hormones and at birth, the girl can be mistaken for a boy. In hermaphroditism , babies can be born with sex organs of both sexes , this being the case, children grow up and then choose their sex before having sex repair surgery.

Symptoms of gender dysphoria

The symptoms are based on the insistence of the person or child to belong to the other sex, looking for a way to fit in activities and situations of the opposite sex. Their fantasies of belonging to the opposite sex are constant and they like to dress up in clothes that are not according to their sex. They don’t like their sexual organs , they feel uncomfortable doing normal functional activities, they react the same way they would if they didn’t have the sex they were born with. They show constant concern in finding a way to eliminate their primary and secondary sexual characteristics.

Diagnosis

The Statistical Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders provides a general diagnosis of gender dysphoria with separate specific criteria for children and for adolescents and adults.

In adults and adolescents, the diagnosis is generally made by following the following aspects:

• There is a marked incongruity between the experienced gender and the primary or secondary sexual characteristics .
• Desire to get rid of primary or secondary sexual characteristics.
• Desire for the primary and / or secondary sexual characteristics of the other gender.
• People feel the desire to be treated as people of the opposite gender.
• Strong conviction of having feelings and reactions typical of the other gender

In children , the diagnosis of gender dysphoria implies at least six of the following wishes and the presence of distress or associated significant impairment in function, lasting at least six months.

• Desire or insistence to be and feel of the other gender.
• Preference for wearing typical clothing of the opposite sex.
• Preference for intergroup roles in fantasy or fantasy games.
• Need to use toys , games, or activities stereotypically used or participated in by the other gender.
• Preference for companions of game of the opposite gender.
• A strong rejection of toys, games and activities typical of the genre that has been assigned to them.
• Aversion to the sexual anatomy of the person.
• A strong desire for physical sexual characteristics that match the experienced gender.

Treatment of gender dysphoria

The goal of treatment is not to change the person or is trying to convince her to accept your body, contrast, treatment focuses on can give you the power to achieve him against the situations and feelings negative that comes their way . The psychological therapy is the ideal treatment for dysphoria. Some people eventually take medication to change their physical appearance . The treatment helps them to accept and carry out personal, social and legal transformations in an adequate time.