Gender dysphoria flag
Gender Dysphoria, or just Dysphoria, is a feeling of discomfort, distress or self-hatred stemming from a disconnect between one's internal sense of gender and one's outward appearance and/or the gender other perceive one as. Dysphoria is typically experienced by transgender individuals and is most commonly associated with binary trans individuals, though non-binary individuals can also experience dysphoria.
Not all trans individuals experience dysphoria and different individuals may feel dysphoria in different amounts, different ways, or towards different parts of the body.
Gender dysphoria is recognized as a medical condition, previously known as gender identity disorder (GID) in the DSM until it was renamed in 2013 with the release of the DSM-5. It was renamed to remove stigma associated with the term "disorder." Gender dysphoria is typically treated by hormone replacement therapy and/or surgery.
The opposite of gender dysphoria is known as gender euphoria.
There are at least three types of dysphoria; these being body, social and mind dysphoria. Individuals can experience any combination of these at varying strengths. The exact types of dysphoria one feels and what causes dysphoria can change throughout one's life.
- Body Dysphoria: This is what most individuals think of when they think of dysphoria. it is the discomfort with one's body and/or how it functions. The most common forms of this dysphoria are tied to one's genitals and one's chest, though one can also by dysphoric about their height, body shape, facial features, or body hair among other things. One with body dysphoria may also fall under genital sofrimento, NCST sofrimento, chest sofrimento, and/or gonadal sofrimento.
- Social Dysphoria: This is the discomfort with how one is seen by other individuals. This can include dysphoria caused by being misgendered, being called by the wrong name, wrong pronouns, or being called "Mr." or "Miss." It can also include being forced to present as one's assigned gender at birth or being forced to present in a way that would make one more likely to be misgendered.
- Mind Dysphoria: This is the discomfort caused by when one feels like their thoughts or emotions are at odds with their gender identity. This can include dysphoria caused by misgendering oneself (such as using the wrong name or pronouns for oneself or thinking of one's past self as being a different gender). This could also be from self-doubt about one's gender or thoughts that one will never be a real man/woman/non-binary indiviudal.
For many reasons, someone may experience gender dysphoria yet still identify as cisgender, these individuals can be called dysphoric cis individuals. DCIs are not inherently LGBTQ+ and often experience their gender in a different way than dysphoric trans or non-binary individuals.
Other terms related to gender dysphoria include gender dissonance, gender disconnect, gender dysmorphia and gender disordia.
Resources[]
https://web.archive.org/web/20230331154550/https://www.britannica.com/science/gender-dysphoria