Is transgender really a mental disorder like everyone says?

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My mum keeps on saying it is. she's not HOMOPHOBIC, but I guess she's transphobic or something. Either way she thinks I'm transgender and apparentally thought I was for years! (Yeah I'm confuzed too.) Is it truly some kind of mental thing?

as of today, being physically one sex and feeling like you are another is classified as a disorder. a person must have a thorough psychological exam before being allowed to have gender-altering surgery. keep in mind that until 1973, homosexuality was considered a disorder. things change as our understanding changes. the fact that transgendered folks are treated with meds and operations may keep transgender in the "disorder" category for some time, though.

your mom can't decide if you are a transgender individual. that's your call.

no. not in itself, i wouldn't say it universally, in some cases it may be related to another sort of disorder, depending on your feelings about it. But in itself, i would not classify it as a disorder, you can be perfectly comfortable with yourself in every other sense, but feel that your brain would be more suited for the gender that develops of the alternative allosomal condition (homozygousity or heterozygousity). I dont think there is any way to measure where you fall other than where you feel, you may be of homosexual preference and prefer to keep your body, you may be homosexual and feel you should alter your body, you may be heterosexual and feel like you should have a different body. I know an individual who has this condition. Born male, predominately heterosexual, however has always had transgender feelings, and is now conducting himself as a woman, not sure if he plans on getting the surgery eventually. Human sexuality can be complex, nothing wrong with that.

However you mothers standpoint sounds strange . . . do you have feelings of transgender or is she projecting them ???

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Yeah I kind of think I'm transgenger before my mom started freaking out. She said since I'm an Aspie I project my thoughts too loudly (Psychics are common in my family, but I'm not really sure THAT'S a psychic thing. She might have just looked at my internet history when I researched more about this.)

Gender identity disorder is considered a disorder, yeah. I don't particularly like the use of the word, since it sugests there is something wrong with our minds, when its really our bodies, but it doesn't mean that the people who use the word are transphobic. On the other hand, your mum probably doesn't know what she's talking about, and her use of the word disorder could very well be transphobic. You just have to take it into context.

Also, don't let your mum tell you what your gender is. She is emotionally invested, and even the most supportive parents (like mine) will try to influence you in the beginning.

It probably all depends on how the person themselves feels about it.

No, not technically IMO since the hormones in the womb really do influence the development of the brain and many people have the finger ratio that indicates they have the brain of the opposite gender.

But, I've never (personally) understood why one would feel the need to transition.

If gender is a social construct, why is it important to fit into the opposite role?

It was created by society, anyway.

There are many people who are not on either end of the gender spectrum imo, or even more masculine ( I have this "male" ratio FWIW), not necessarily masculine or androgynous in appearance but in attitude, I know tons of women like this and they have always been outwardly feminine(ish).

if more people dropped the rigid gender expectations, less people would need to transition to fit in.

EXPECIALLY: We transition because of gender dysphoria. There are two parts to gender dysphoria, both of which I have experienced. One is physically dysphoria, meaning that we can never live comfortably with the body we have. I've found that transitioning has helped that somewhat, but not enough. I won't be right until I have surgery and hormones. The second part is mental, and has to do with mental conformity to our true gender. Basically, when I lived in a female role and people treated me as female, I tried to kill myself seven times.

"If gender is a social construct, why is it important to fit into the opposite role?"

Not the opposite role. The correct role. Gender and sex are different things. Most people's gender is the same or similar to their sex, but some people are born with these two things differing. Gender always seems to dominate, as sex doesn't have an affect on someone's mental state other than to give them hell if it differs from their gender. And its not the opposite role, its the right role. There are people who start of intersex, or transition to become Neutrois.

"if more people dropped the rigid gender expectations, less people would need to transition to fit in."

Its not about fitting in, its about not committing suicide.

If that it s what it's really about I suspect it has something to do with more than gender identity.

There are lots women with these "male" brains walking around, and vice versa.

*shrug* People should still (obviously) do whatever they want but I've seen many people who have said things similar to what you just did and they weren't happy after they transitioned, either.

That might be due to the unfortunate fact that, as advanced as surgical techniques are, many features of a post-op trans physiology is going to require a significant degree of conscious upkeep pretty much forever. You don't get to just say "OK, cool, I'm [insert gender] now, I don't have to worry about this ever again!"

Plus being post-transition/passing effectively doesn't automatically mitigate the social aspects of your transition, which can have a huge effect on a person's state of mind.

GID is different from the genderqueer type of transgenderism. People with GID don't just reject heteronormative gender roles, they reject their entire body because it doesn't correspond to their mental body image. They feel like their breasts or genitals were some strange kind of tumor that doesn't belong to them and are utterly disgusted by their sexual characteristics. Going through puberty is an extremely traumatic experience for them.

Insofar, GID really is a disorder. It is the disorder of being born in the wrong body.

TBH I also thinkk it has to do a lot with the huge Aspie/trans overlap.

I suspected there was one long ago, and now see that it's fact, they even throw in some random Aspie type questions in the GID screening assessment(about sensitivity to sound, clothing, etc).

I really mean as far as undiagnosed Aspies who don't know why they feel absolutely different than everyone else...I think suicide and major depression was more common when the diagnosis was less common.

But, unfortunately, there are also diagnosed Aspies who are going to feel this way forever, if transitioning does help someone that's great, I've seen that happen to but to trans people who seemed less Aspie, outwardly anyway.

I think it's wise, especially for Aspies to be 100% sure that it's the real issue.

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I know how they feel, but is it really a disorder if they really born in the "wrong body"?

My point is that, what if it's not the wrong body? And that's it's only a disorder because the person very strongly rejects societal roles of their bio sex? That's due to the rigid gender roles.

This does happen, the only way I know of so far that they know someone's brain was affected by prenatal hormones and made trans is by measuring the 2D4D ratio.

So, according to that, I have this male brain too. I actuallly had gender dyspohoria growing up.

But WHY is my brain male?

The only reason I had gender dysphoria, was because I related more to boys, was good at a lot of the things they were good at (excluding sports), and had a lot of awful experiences with girls. I was androgynous outwardly, but become more girly later even though I very much did "think that I was really a boy" loooong before I knew anything about GID.

Also, gender dysphoria is not all that uncommon, people don't talk about it but people are just now starting to talk about gender identity in general. My entire point is that if people did you wouldn't have so many people who feel like total freaks.

I do, in fact, have a brain that is less common among women, but why is the "logical" conclusion that people come to, is that people who have brains that are the opposite gender of their biological sex, are "transgender"?

How are all of the connections made a long the way to come to this label?

You wouldn't say a woman with other "male" qualities should be a man. If a woman is dyslexic, left-handed, color-blind, she's simply a woman with traits that are "male".

Isn't saying (or implying, which is what we're doing IMO) that a bio man or a bio women isn't "allowed" to have the brain of the opposite gender without transitioning reinforcing the gender role stereotypes, anyway?

I'm not saying anyone is going around policing finger ratios LMAO, but I was once told on a forum (by a trans person) that because of my past gender dysphoria and because I still don't totally identity with women in general, on top of the 2D4D ratio that I was trans myself and that if they were me they would consider themselves trans.

So I know exactly how they feel, but I can't make the connection. I'm not trans and I never would be, at least not in this era.

I understand where you are coming from, and I had the same thought in the past. But I've learned from trans people in Second Life that GID has nothing to with societal gender roles.

One of the trans women that I talked to compared GID to depersonalization disorder (DPD). People who suffer from DPD often feel that limbs or other parts of their body don't belong to them. They might look at their arm with utter horror and think "this is not my arm, this thing belongs to someone else, I don't want this on me". That's exactly how many trans people feel about their anatomical sex characteristics. They simply don't belong there and their mind rejects them.

Some children with GID threaten to mutilate themselves and cut off their genitals. That is not just a rejection of gender-normative social constructs. They haven't even reached puberty yet and know next to nothing about sexuality and gender roles. All they know is that there is something horribly wrong with their body and it shouldn't look like this.

Well, I still think there are some people who are very reactive and that their behavior is largely based on society.

But I agree, sometimes people are very extreme, just because their brain really was affected so severely in utero that they can't even pretend they're aligned with their assigned gender (especially when you see it in kids who are 2-3).

But as far as the DPD thing, that's very Aspie IMO.. I feel that way, just in general.

Not a gender thing at all, but I go through phases of feeling it more intensely than other times, I've become worried in the past because of severe depersonalization, it has gotten better but I am still "in a bubble" and always have been. Before I knew anything about ASD's I was 150% sure that I would someday lose my mind lol.

So if that woman has some spectrum traits she will probably always struggle with DPD but if transitioning help her for legit reasons then it's still an improvement

As to why people transition -- the overall reality is that different people can have different reasons. For some it's a completely physical problem, but for others it actually is more of a social role type thing. I.e. Some hate their original genitals, but others don't. It can get complicated because sometimes a person who feels one way will say that those who feel differently aren't "true" transsexuals.