[Skeezyks]

The question:

Are gender identity & transgender the same thing or can a person have life-long gender dysphoria & still not be transgender? By the way, here's a link to an article, from PC's archives, that discusses how gender dysphoria is defined in the DSM-5:

Gender Dysphoria Symptoms

Back story (for anyone who's interested in more information):

Gender dysphoria is something I've struggled with my entire life. I don't have many memories of my life prior to around age 8. However of the ones I have, most of them relate to this. But of course, way back when I was young, it would never have occurred to anyone I knew that one's assigned gender at birth & one's gender identity might not be the same thing. There were boys & there were girls. And, if you didn't happen to fit neatly into one of those categories, you darned well kept it to yourself... if you knew what was good for you.

I learned, very early in life, there were things about myself I must never talk about. And so I didn't. And, outwardly, I've lived a more-or-less average sort of male life. (For most of my life I didn't imagine I had any choice.) In addition to my gender dysphoria, though, I've also struggled with depression & anxiety along with some other stuff my whole life. But I don't know if my gender identity issues caused my other mental health issues (which might suggest I was transgender), or if gender dysphoria was simply one aspect of a more overriding mental illness that also included depression & anxiety (which perhaps suggests I was not transgender but simply mentally ill.) The reality is it really doesn't make any difference anymore. However I still can't help but be curious as to what it was all about.

Thanks!

[Ember_42]

The simple definition of 'transgender' is that you don't identify as the sex/gender you were assigned at birth. It's technically an umbrella term, even though it usually refers to those who identify as the opposite binary gender. I know someone who is genderfluid and strongly identifies as trans. Others consider themselves gender nonconforming, more than trans. That's where I am. Gender variant is another term I've heard.

What it comes down to is that only you get to decide how you identify. You can be genderqueer, nonbinary, bigender, pangender, genderfluid, agender, or whatever feels right to you. You don't need to want to transition.

Gender dysphoria means you're experiencing emotional or psychological distress and that's a mental illness. It's the distress that's the problem though, not your gender identity. Depression and anxiety might be separate issues, or they might be connected to repressing your true self. It might very well be that if you were able to accept and express yourself as a trans or gender nonconforming person, the distress, anxiety, and depression might improve. It's something that you might benefit from talking to a therapist about.

[FooZe]

This thread has been closed at the OP's request.