Gender identity disorder as identified by psychologists and medical doctors is a condition where a person who has been assigned one gender (usually on the basis of their sex, but compare intersexual) identifies themself with another gender role, or do not conform with the gender role their respective society prescribes to them.
This feeling usually is reported as "having always been there", although in many cases it seems to appear in adolescence or even in adulthood, and has been reported by some as intensifying over time. Since many cultures strongly disapprove of cross-gender behaviour, it often results in significant problems, for example a severe identity crisis. Also, social problems are likely to occur if a society does not accept cross-gender behaviour. In many cases discomfort is also reported as stemming from feeling like one's body is "wrong" or meant to be different.
See also Transgender.
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2 Controversy 3 Treatment 4 External links |
The current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders has five criteria that must be met before a diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder can be given: [1]
Diagnostic Criteria
DSM-IV
The DSM-IV also provides a code for gender disorders that did not fall into these criteria. This diagnosis of Gender Identity Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (GIDNOS) is similar to other "NOS" diagnoses, and can be given for, for example: [1]
GID in the DSM-IV is comparable to transsexuality, whereas GIDNOS is more comparable to other transgender behaviour that may be seen as disordered. However, transvestic fetishism has its own code, as a paraphilia rather than a gender identity disorder.
The current edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems has five different diagnoses for gender identity disorder: transsexualism, Dual-role Transvestism, Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood, Other Gender Identity Disorders, and Gender Identity Disorder, Unspecified. [1]
Transsexualism has the following criteria:
A lot of transgender people do not regard their cross-gender feelings and behaviours as a disorder. The question what a "normal" gender identity or a "normal" gender role is supposed to be; and sometimes even the existence of a "normal" gender identity or gender role is examined and often rejected by parts of modern gender studies.
Even though the preponderence of evidence suggests that transsexualism has a neurological etiology, there is not yet clear and convincing evidence as to whether the etiology of transsexualism is mental or physical. Thus the psychiatric diagnoses will continue to be carry authority and to be useful for medical billing purposes and potentially for the classification of research results until those diagnoses are debunked. However, little or no research into transsexualism is actually being conducted, especially in North America. The mental illness diagnoses are also enshrined in the HBIGDA-SOCs, and though clearly suspect, persist probably because no other medical diagnoses are available.
In a landmark publication in December 2002 the British Lord Chancellor's office published a Government Policy concerning Transsexual People document that categorically states "What transsexualism is not...It is not a mental illness." It would appear to be likely that other countries will follow this lead. Nonetheless existing psychiatric diagnoses of Gender Identity Disorder or the now obsolete categories of Homosexuality Disorder, Gender Dysphoria Syndrome, True Transsexual etc. continue to be accepted as formal evidence of transsexuality for historical reasons.
The official politics in many countries still interprets transgender in terms of an undesireable thing that has to be prohibited or a psychiatric disorder, which has to be cured. See Heteronormativity
Medicine and psychology have tried to cure gender identity disorder or transgender behaviour or feelings ever since it came to their attention in the middle of the 19th century. Only occasionally reports about "cures" can be found, and almost all of them lack a follow-up. Also, all of those reports can be matched with the stories of transgender people who at one point left a treatment as cured. (Some transgenders were in fact "cured" several times.) It never worked, unless the reason for transgender behaviour could clearly be identified as laying outside of the person showing this behaviour.
Medical treatment for changing a persons sexual characteristics (see Sexual reassignment surgery) is not a cure for transgender feeling or behaviour, but can help transgender persons to live in a gender role that is more appropriate to their gender identity. But while there will most likely always be transgender people who will need this kind of medical treatment, the best help transgender people can get is social acceptance in a gender role that fits their identity.
ICD-10
Dual-role transvestism has the following criteria:
Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood has essentially four criteria, which may be summarised as:
The remaining two classifications have no specific criteria and may be used as catch-all classifications in a similar way to GIDNOS.Controversy
Some people see "transgendering" as a means for deconstructing gender. However, not all transgenders do wish to or feel that they are deconstructing gender.
Other transgender people object to the classification of GID as a mental disorder on the grounds that there may be a physical cause, as suggested by recent studies about the brains of transsexuals, also pointing out that the treatment for this disorder consists primarily of physical modifications to bring the body into harmony with one's mental (psychological, emotional) gender identity.Treatment
External links