Is Gender Identity Disorder An Illness?


by MIKE SELVON - Date: 2008-07-24 - Word Count: 431 Share This!

Gender identity disorder refers to individuals who are living as one gender but were born another biological sex and most often are having problems dealing with their situation. Psychiatrists use this term to explain the disorders that are related to issues of transgender identity and transsexuals. This classification is also used to refer to people who call themselves transsexuals, but they don't necessarily feel that it is a disorder.

Many people who are in the classification of having gender identity disorder state that they have felt like they were in the wrong bodies for most of their lives. Many individuals in these transgender groups have had these feelings from the time that they were children, yet others reported that they did not begin to have these feelings until they were in their teens. Transgendered individuals are not always treated as if they fit in. Different cultures do not approve of transsexual behavior and this can cause tremendous stress on the individuals and how they exist in society.

Many people who are transgendered do not really see themselves as having a disorder. Some believe that they have simply been born with the wrong body or as the wrong sex. Those who are within certain transgender groups sometimes question what the norm should be for a person who is experiencing feelings of not having been born as the correct sex. Many argue that gender identity disorders are a product of social construction and are not related to the biological sex or feelings of a person at all.

Over the years, there have been cures that have been reported for this disorder, but the cures have never been substantiated. There has also been the question as to whether to offer counseling to help them deal with their biological sex.

It is very controversial as to whether or not an adolescent or young child should be allowed to explore their transsexual feelings. This has brought up a lot of mixed feelings, both in transgender groups and in mainstream society.

Many individuals do not feel that their issue with gender identity is a disorder at all, but simply the fact that they were not born as the correct biological sex. While many of these people do not feel that this is a disorder, many physicians disagree.

Many physicians would argue that gender identity disorder is a true illness and needs to be treated. Whether it is truly a disorder or not, disorder gender identity issues can cause feelings of not belonging to any one group and can also cause individuals to not be accepted by other individuals.


Related Tags: gender identity disorder, gender, gender identity, living with gender identity disorder

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