Many people feel relatively good about their bodies; At most, they think that they would be better off with a different type of hair, with more or less kilos on top, or with a more muscular body.
However, Others feel as if their identity does not fit their body because they feel like they are a gender that does not correspond to their biological sex. This feeling is the essence of gender dysphoria.
Basically, gender dysphoria is the term used to refer to to the perceived incongruence between one’s own gender identity and the sex attributed to one’s own body when this lack of correspondence between both elements generates discomfort.
People who experience gender dysphoria perceive their own body as something foreign, that it does not belong to them, because it is the opposite sex from what it should be. This produces 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 deep discomfort because of it. Furthermore, not all transsexual 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 strong gender dysphoria They tend to need their sex and gender to be aligned according to traditional canons or at least in some of its aspects. For example, it is possible that they only feel strange about their body hair, or their chest… 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 characteristics and secondary.
Gender dysphoria can appear in all types of people, even in childhood, when they do not yet have the means to correctly express what they feel and the only way to externalize this tension between sex and gender is to reject gender-laden elements. that they want to instill in them and opt for those that correspond to the opposite sex.
Furthermore, it can appear in both men and women, although it is estimated that, at least in Spain, it is somewhat more common in men.
Is gender dysphoria a disease?
The short answer to this question is no, it is not. This is because, although today there is still debate about 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 especially because gender dysphoria can also be addressed as a social and cultural problem.
According to this perspective, which avoids the pathologization of 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 with hardness and physical violence. etc. Therefore, when situations arise in which a person’s identity does not fit with these gender roles, the situation may arise that the individual feels more identified with the gender identity that has not been assigned to them at birth. from rigid biological criteria.
So, if gender dysphoria can be solved by changing the culture in which people live, it cannot possibly be a disease.
However, this does not mean that for some people, gender dysphoria is so strong that they decide to opt for surgery, that is, the immediate medical route. In this way, you can go for both cosmetic surgery and sex change operations, in which important structural changes are introduced. This is considered a solution that allows reducing tension that exists between one’s own identity and the social expectations imposed on the individual based on isolated biological characteristics.
Surgery in transsexuality
As the person experiencing gender dysphoria notices that their identity and their body are not in harmony, It is common 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 biological sex to which one wants to belong and the use of hormones so that certain quantitative changes appear in one’s body: more or less facial hair, more or less muscle development, etc.
However, it must be taken into account that this type of process carries risks, and that even taking hormones can produce irreversible effects, especially if it starts during youth.
Furthermore, in many cases, what was interpreted as gender dysphoria was actually a different type of problem. 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 better informed about sexuality. and the nature of gender identity).
Psychotherapy to solve gender dysphoria?
Of course, you can also consider the option of making your own identity fit better with the body you have, instead of physically modifying your body. However, Psychotherapy has been shown to be ineffective in resolving the feelings of discomfort caused by gender dysphoria. so the most useful option is body and wardrobe modification.
However, that does not mean that psychotherapy is useless when it comes to addressing these types of problems. Specifically, psychological care can be used to prepare and support the transition to a body with which one’s identity fits, in order to be able to face in good conditions the new needs and problems related to the transition to the other sex.
