Gender Dysphoria Criteria

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I believe the individuals in the documentary Identity: In & Beyond the Binary fit the DSM-5 criteria for Gender Dysphoria. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the Mental Disorders (2013), in children, a strong desire to be of the other gender or an insistence that one is the other gender, a strong preference for wearing clothes typical of the opposite gender, a strong preference for the toys, games or activities stereotypically used or engaged in by the other gender and a strong desire for the physical sex characteristics that match one’s experienced gender fit the criteria. These are the feelings all the individual from the video were describing they felt when they were young. According to American Psychiatric Association …show more content…

They may use clothes and hairstyles and adopt a new first name of their experienced gender. Similarly, children with gender dysphoria may express the wish to be of the opposite gender and may assert they are of the opposite gender. They prefer, or demand, clothing, hairstyles and to be called a name of the opposite gender. Gender Dysphoria is different from gender nonconformity, which refers to behaviors not matching the gender norms or stereotypes of the gender assigned at birth. Examples of gender nonconformity include girls behaving and dressing in ways more socially expected of boys or occasional cross-dressing in adult men. Gender nonconformity is not a mental disorder. Gender dysphoria is also not the same being gay/lesbian. While some children express feelings and behaviors relating to gender dysphoria at four years old or younger, many may not express feelings and behaviors until puberty or much later. For some children, when they experience puberty, they suddenly find themselves unable to identify with their own body. Some adolescents become unable to shower or wear a bathing suit and/or undertake self-harm

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