Definition of Gender Dysphoria

It should be understood as the opposite feeling of euphoria. This word is used to refer to those people who are not satisfied with their identity from gender. Someone has gender dysphoria when their male or female sexuality does not correspond to their self-perception as an individual.

In short, when a man feels like a woman or a woman feels like a man. Obviously, those who live in this situation are unhappy with their sexuality and identity.

Transgender, transsexual, transphobia and gender dysphoria

A transgender person is someone who does not identify with the gender role determined by her genitalia. Consequently, he feels uncomfortable or uncomfortable with her sexual assignment and this mismatch causes dysphoria. In this situation, it is quite likely that the person wants to alter her gender role by completing some hormonal treatment or intervention surgery to change your genitals and adapt them to your sexual identity (These types of changes are called sex reassignment). In this case, the transgender individual who has dysphoria becomes a transsexual.

Transgender people and transsexuals are not always accepted and respected. Those who reject these groups are adopting a attitude discriminatory, also known as transphobia.

A struggle for the recognition of identity

From the point of view of psychiatry, gender dysphoria is considered by some specialists as a disease, while others are opposed to the pathologization of dysphoria. The intense on this matter is approached by psychiatry, theology or the philosophy.

For the American Psychiatric Association, transsexuality and gender dysphoria are not part of the mental illnesses included in the manual of diagnosis DSM-5 since 2012. Thus, before this date, the person with gender dysphoria was mentally ill according to the established parameters and after this date they no longer have this label. This change of approach has great similarities with the question of the homosexuality, since for decades psychiatry labeled homosexuals as mentally ill and with the passage of time this consideration has ceased to exist in the majority medical community.

In 2018 the World Health Organization will publish the new disease manual. Transsexuality and gender dysphoria are expected to cease to be a mental disorder and to be called "gender incongruities".

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