...Gender Identity Disorder The psychological diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder (GID) describes an individual who experiences a strong identification with the opposite sex. This cross-gender identification refers to the desire to be, or the insistence that one is, of the other sex, often results in the individual experiencing high levels of discomfort and distress. Many key terms are commonly misunderstood and are often assumed to be synonymous when referring to Gender Identity Disorder. Thus, it is important to differentiate these terms. First, the term “sex” refers to an individual’s biological reproductive structures. Whereas, gender refers to the psychosocial, expected behaviours and rules an individual attributes to. Gender identity refers to the individual’s subjective feelings towards the particular gender they identify with. Lastly, gender role is another important concept that should be properly defined. It refers to the behaviours, attitudes, and schemas that a society deems acceptable and designates as either masculine or feminine (Dragpwski, Scharron-del Rio & Sandigorsky, 2011). The DSM-IV-TR defines two important components of Gender Identity Disorder. The first is the presence of strong and persistent cross-gender identification (Criterion A) (DSM-IV-TR, 2010). In children, the problem must lie within 4 of the 5 following behavioural characteristics: (a) repeatedly stated desire to be, or insistence that he or she is, the other sex; (b) in boys, preference...
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...Gender Identity Disorder Chelsie Davis Abnormal Psychology Psyc 4153 01 April 2011 Abstract Gender identity disorder is a disorder in which people suffer from relentless feelings that an error has been made in which gender they have been born. Sufferers of this disorder are extremely confused and agitated on a constant basis in their everyday lives. Most people with gender identity disorder will live pretending to be the sex or gender that they believe they should have been. These people are many times disgusted with their own bodies and feel a disconnect with who they feel that they are and who they see when they look in the mirror; this causes them to question their own identity, depression, sadness, among others. Several people that suffer from gender identity disorder become suicidal. The unhappiness and depression from the confusion that they feel every day many times becomes so unrelenting and unbearable that they feel suicide is the only way to put a stop to all of the pain and confusion that they feel. Many people argue that this disorder should not be classified as a psychological disorder, but instead, a medical condition. They believe that this is a condition that simply causes unhappiness like many other medical conditions and should be classified they same way. This view point on gender identity disorder could possibly be a more valid way to diagnose and treat the disorder, however, psychologists stand firm in the belief that this disorder is psychological...
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...Gender Identity Disorder Defined To be diagnosis with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR) says “There are two components of Gender Identity Disorder, both of which must be present too make the diagnosis. There must be evidence of a strong and persistent cross- gender identification, which is the desire to be, or the insistence that one is, of the other sex. There must also be evidence of persistent discomfort about one's assigned sex or sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex. To make the diagnosis, there must be evidence of clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (American Psychiatric Association [DSM-IV-TR], 2000). There are several diagnosis mentioned in the DSM. Transvestic Fetishism is when heterosexual men cross dress for sexual excitement. These people don't necessarily have childhood cross gender behaviors. Schizophrenia patients may demonstrate Gender Identity Disorder behaviors. The DSM is used by many mental health workers to officially diagnosis a patient, most insurance companies won't pay for treatment if proper diagnosis hasn't been made. Kenneth Zucker PH.D. is a well known psychologist and sexologist, and head of the child and adolescent gender identity clinic at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Zucker supports GID being listed as a disorder in the DSM. He has also been chosen to by the APA to...
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...Introduction Gender identity disorders in children and adolescents are rare and complex conditions. They are often associated with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Intense distress is often experienced, particularly in adolescence. Gender identity disorders can be seen as states in which, in the course of the young person’s psychosexual development, there is an atypical gender identity organisation. The young person experiences their phenotypic sex as incongruous with his or her own sense of gender identity. This predicament, which is commoner in boys, is characterised by: • A desire to be of the other sex • Cross-dressing • Play with games, toys and objects usually associated with the other sex and avoidance of play normally associated with their sex • Preference for playmates or friends of the sex with which the child identifies • Dislike of bodily sexual characteristics and functions It is important to consider these states as different from those seen in adults because: (a) A developmental process is involved (physical, psychological and sexual). (b) There is greater fluidity and variability in the outcome, with only a small proportion becoming transsexuals or transvestites, the majority of affected children eventually developing a homosexual orientation and some a heterosexual orientation without transvestism or transsexualism. Similarly, pre-pubertal and post-pubertal groups need to be differentiated. There is greater fluidity and likelihood...
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...Gender Identity Disorder Gender Identity Disorder Gender identity disorder is when a person has the desire to become a member of the opposite sex. Females want to become males and males want to become females. This type of disorder generally develops in childhood and either diminishes in adulthood or goes as far as having sexual reassignment surgery. Someone that suffers from this disorder tends to be uncomfortable with the gender in which they were born. Males are often chastised for their femininity and females for being so masculine. People with gender identity disorder find themselves dressing in the opposite sexes’ clothes and taking on their personality traits. These people can be considered transsexuals. When they take the form of the opposite sex as in taking hormones and having a mastectomy, they can or rather be called transgendered. In order for someone to be diagnosed with a gender identity disorder they must have this feeling for at least two years. A history and psychiatric evaluation can validate the person's undeniable desire to be the opposite sex. Athealth.com describes diagnosing this disorder by, “A mental health professional makes a diagnosis of gender identity disorder by taking a careful personal history from the client/patient. No laboratory tests are required to make a diagnosis of gender identity disorder. However, it is very important not to overlook a physical illness that might mimic or contribute to a psychological disorder. If...
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...Review of Related Literature The transsexual (TS) male or female is deeply unhappy as a member of the sex (or gender) to which he or she was assigned by the anatomical structure of the body, particularly the genitals. To avoid misunderstanding: this has nothing to do with hermaphroditism. The transsexual is physically normal (although occasionally underdeveloped). These persons can somewhat appease their unhappiness by dressing in the clothes of the opposite sex, that is to say, by cross-dressing, and they are, therefore, transvestites too. But while "dressing" would satisfy the true transvestite (who is content with his morphological sex), it is only incidental and not more than a partial or temporary help to the transsexual. True transsexuals feel that they belong to the other sex, they want to be and function as members of the opposite sex, not only to appear as such. For them, their sex organs, the primary (testes) as well as the secondary (penis and others) are disgusting deformities that must be changed by the surgeon’s knife. This attitude appears to be the chief differential diagnostic point between the two syndromes (sets of symptoms) - that is, those of transvestism and transsexualism. No genetic cause has as yet been proved for any transsexual manifestation. In a few rare cases of the Klinefelter syndrome, being complicated by transsexualism (or vice versa), the usual genetic fault was found, the patients showing 47 chromosomes (instead of the normal 46), with a chromosomal...
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...Sexual and Gender Identity, Personality, and Eating Disorders Outline 1. Sexual and Gender Identity a. Categorized as just that, sexual and gender identity disorders b. Some classifications include gender identity disorder, sexual dysfunctions, and paraphilia’s c. Biological contributions include physical disease, medical illness, prescribed medications, use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs d. Emotional patterns of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships, emotional instability, identity disturbance, chronic feeling of emptiness, and often show symptoms of agitated effort to avoid real or imaginary abandonment e. Cognitively causes paranoid thoughts, to the extreme of having repetitive suicidal thoughts f. Behaviorally; individuals have/ show serious and rigid personality traits that causes anguish to the individual and/ or cause problems at work, school, and/ or social relationships (impulsiveness, intense anger, and stress) 2. Personality Disorders a. Categorized by how an individual relates to the world b. Some classifications include antisocial personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder c. Biologically; genetics are responsible for personality (a connection between genetics and personality traits) d. Emotional components reflect on a disruptive childhood e. Cognitively, childhood experiences shape thought patterns in which it later becomes the individuals personality f. Behavioral wise, individuals act out their beliefs although the...
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...Abigail Gardener Physiology December 3, 2014 Physiology Paper on Gender Dysphoria Gender identity disorder (GID) or gender dysphoria is the formal diagnosis used by psychologists and physicians to describe people who experience significant discontent with the sex they were assigned at birth and/or the gender roles associated with that sex. Evidence suggests that people who identify with a gender different from the one they were assigned at birth may do so not just due to psychological or behavioral causes, but also biological ones related to their genetics, the makeup of their brains, or prenatal exposure to hormones. Gender identity disorder is classified as a medical disorder called gender dysphoria. Many transgender people and researchers support declassification of GID because they say the diagnosis pathologies gender variance, reinforces the binary model of gender and can result in reprehension of transgender individuals. The official classification of gender dysphoria as a disorder may help resolve some of these issues, because the term "gender dysphoria" applies only to the discontent experienced by some persons resulting from gender identity issues. The current medical approach to treatment for persons diagnosed with gender identity disorder is to support the individual in physically modifying the body to better match the psychological gender identity. This approach is based on the concept that their experience is based in a medical problem correctable by...
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...The Gender Spectrum The gender spectrum, or can also be known as gender identity, is a way for some individuals to feel more comfortable with what gender they desire that they are rather than what the “normal” gender is for them. There are many types of genders of how a few would call themselves. Gender Identity Disorder is how a person “strongly identifies with the other sex. They [believe] that they are a member of the other sex who is trapped in the wrong body” (Berger 1). In addition, there are several types of gender identities if someone does not describe themselves as a male or female. This would be called gender fluid. “Gender fluid is one of the many gender identities that are not traditionally male or female, and include genderqueer,...
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...Bonny Frescura #832693 Psychology of Human Sexuality – PSY 5040 Kean University – Oct. 7, 2013 Article: ABOUT A BOY WHO ISN’T A while ago I prepared a presentation about transgender kids for a certain psychology class. This is a topic that has always been interesting to me because of the depth of the psychological dilemma these kids have to endure every day of their lives. The pain and the struggle are unimaginable and the gender identity disorder is a topic that deserves all the research and attention to help these kids to find their true identity. Aside from the usual obstacles that transgender kids have to go through, this particular kid who is a male to female transgender, experiences the stigma of having a gender identity disorder inside of a traditional Latino family. As a Latina, I could agree with the statement of “M” when he expressed that his family would rather see him as a boy than a lesbian. Latino families are very traditional and have a harder time than other families understanding homosexuality and gender identity disorders. The main problem for the understanding of these issues lies on misinformation. Often parents, educators and other administrative members at schools have not been trained to face the challenge of having to accommodate a student that wishes to cross-live. For a parent is even more difficult because they have to face and accept the “death” of their son or daughter and support their child to become the person they want to be. One thing that...
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...Crisis Issues Facing Transsexuals During Transitioning For the transsexual population, the period of transitioning from male-to-female or female-to-male and re-emerging as the gender you have always identified with vs. your biological gender presents as a major crisis. Transsexual people suffer from a lifelong conflict diagnosed as gender identity disorder (GID) or gender dysphoria, in that they do not feel that their sexual identity matches their assigned gender. Many transsexuals demonstrate traits and behaviours opposite of their biological sex. Society may view the transsexual individual as someone who is changing their sex, where the transsexual individual sees it as “correcting” their gender to match their identity. Transsexual men and women want to be able to blend in with other people of their new sex, but may not choose to reveal their past, in an effort to blend in as a male or female and avoid the stress and stigma of being identified as a transsexual. Within the transgender/transsexual community this practice of nondisclosure is known as stealth and is seen as an individual choice that the person must make, while outsiders of the transgender/transsexual community view this behavior as being dishonest because they feel that a person should be honest about his or her past. The fear of rejection and the loss of respect and trust are major factors. Deep stealth is sometimes used for those that have completely isolated themselves from their past, their birth families...
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...2011 report from the Williams Institute, a think tank on sexual orientation and gender identity, suggests nearly 700,000 transgender individuals live in the USA. An online fact sheet from the American Psychological Association defines "transgender" as an "umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth." But even mental health professionals who specialize in gender identity say there is much about being transgender that is unclear, so classifying it for treatment purposes is challenging. "It's different from other mental disorders," says Jack Drescher, a New York psychiatrist who was part of the American Psychiatric Association's work group on gender identity, which revised the latest manual of mental disorders, the DSM-5. "Usually with a mental disorder, we try and change the person's mind," he says. "This is the only mental disorder where the treatment is changing the body. In a typical mental disorder, we try to make those symptoms go away. Here the treatment has emerged to align the person's body to match their gender identity." STORY: Medical issues for transgendered people go beyond surgery For people who feel they're really a different gender than the one they were born, the new manual changed the diagnostic name from "gender identity disorder" to "gender dysphoria," which refers to the distress that may be associated with it. ...
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...getting discriminated because who they are. After all, people who have gender identity come from all different lifestyles. They are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters. They can range from all ages and backgrounds. In light of who they are, gender identity is a person’s perception of having a particular gender, which may or may not correspond with their birth sex and can also be know as part of the LGBT community. Many people are discriminated against because of their gender identity when it doesn’t always agree with thier with their birth sex. Gender identity discrimination has a long history of misunderstandings. There are many issues in this country discriminating against people with gender identity. There are anti-LGBT people creating violence towards LGBT community, employment discrimination, and restroom issues. Until the 1950’s anything to do with anyone who was LGBT was considered objectionable (“National”). This continues to be a problem because people are still not accepting and were discriminating against LGBT because people with gender identity were out of the norm....
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...# 1 This article had many points that I found to be interesting. One point that was made in the article was that the gender identity along with sexual orientation is permanently programmed in the fetal brain is irreversible (Swabb 2011). To emphasize the point, the authors used John Money’s theory to show how devastating a sex change can result in the long run. Money believed that children could only learn their specific gender roles after the age of one. He spent most of his life trying to prove that gender identity was a result of society, that it was something that would be learned, and not wired in the brain. His famous John/Joan experiment involved a boy who lost his penis due to a circumcision, and his parents chose to raise him as a girl. To everyone’s dismay, after childhood “Joan”, in spite of having hormonal treatment at puberty and therapy chose to live his life and a man, eventually leading him to committee suicide. This shows that social construction does not lead an individual to find their gender identity, that in fact that there is other factors that play. Society has formed an idea in individuals that you can either be male or female. Society has left out people with ambiguous genders. People like things to be categorized; it’s easier for people to process information that way. So of course, it’s would be simpler to assign two genders with no in-between. For example, when infants are born with intersex circumstances, parents are given the option to have...
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...PSY 410 Defining Abnormalities Gender and sexual preferences/practices Gender and gender roles have different influences. Prenanatal exposure to androgen or the media both show influences (Kenyon, 2006). To be in consideration of normal a boy child should play with a truck and a girl a doll. Many children like to experiment, such as a little boy who wants to try on his “mommy’s” shoes. The able normal behavior occurs if the little boy prefers mommy’s clothing over that of his specific gender. Although in society no one seems to look twice at a women wearing men’s clothing. It is difficult to define what normal and abnormal behavior by gender and sexual preferences or practices in a changing world. The DSM-II defines sexual orientation disorders as a person who is in conflict with his or her own sexual identity, disturbed by the sexual identity, or a desire to change his or her own sexual identity (DSM-II Homosexuality_Revision.pdf, 1973). This should not be in confusion with homosexuality. Homosexuality is the sexual activity between two members of the same gender (Lecture 21, 2010). Homosexuality was historically a sexual deviation disorder according to the DSM-II. However, during the 60s and 70s the definition of homosexuality was reexamined and was no longer thought to be a disorder. The reexamination states defining homosexuality as a disorder was on a basis of values not on the collection of data. The DSM-III made the changes necessary to form a new category...
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