mental ill desorder

[Natkat]

in my country being transgender is seam as a mentall ill disorder.
some people wanna remove it from the list not to be, but other transgender people are agenst it, by the agument
"if we arnt ill then we wont get suport for our threatment, if we try to make our rights better insteed it would be for the best"

I heard in ex Japan being transgender is a Medicational disorder (I dont know how that compared to mentall illness)
but I wanna ask you guys, how it is where you live, and what you would prefern?

[Rain Dog]

Not just your country, all countries.

http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2010/en#/F64

The difference is in the prescription. Support or abuse?

[Natkat]

so wha do you think?

[dmx]

The classification doesn't really bother me, it's just what some book says. It doesn't affect my everyday life or my access to the treatment I need. If they change it to a physical disorder that would be more accurate.... I would like that.... but either way, I'm fine with it. Either way proves it's not a choice, as no one can choose a mental disorder.

[JohnAlex]

Personally, I don't think it should be considered a mental disorder anywhere.  I think it should be considered a biological, or physiological, or even a hormonal disorder.  and so it's still a type of disorder, and insurance should cover treatment.

[Natkat]

people would probebly kill me for it, but I would prefern it where a gender identety.
I belive gender is fluent. I belive being transgender isnt a choice, but threatment are,
and I belive its not a illness to be yourself for who you are.

if it had to be some kind of dignose then I would prefern medical dignose, but even that seams alittle strange to me since not all transgender people want threatment.

[Ayden]

I don't think I am mentally ill at all. I live a completely normal life and I am not really hindered in any way as far as my relationship with my partner, social life, academic career or my job. Not to say that transitioning will not affect these things, but I don't think my identifying as male will change my desire to seek success. Sure, I dislike my legal name and sex marker on my IDs and legal forms, but I consider it to be a physical disorder more than anything else. For some reason, my body decided that it liked estrogen. I think of it as a hiccup in my physical development that caused undeserved amounts of stress and emotional pain. I consider mental illness to be hindering in some way, or something that requires medical treatments designed to affect the chemicals in the brain. The family and friends that I have that do suffer from mental disorders (mental retardation in development, social anxiety disorder, autism and bi-polar disorder) show signs of difficulty in daily life that I personally do not have. This is not to say that being trans is not affected by these things. A lot of trans folks have social anxiety disorder, depression and other things that is caused by the fact that their bodies do not match their minds. In my opinion, transition will bring my body more in line with my brain, which I consider physical.

However, I can see the argument for treating transgender/transsexual people as if they have a mental condition. A lot of people have difficulty wrapping their minds around someone suffering from a physical or hormone disorder if they cannot physically see something that would be considered a deformity. Saying that it is a mental condition makes some people feel more comfortable with the fact that anyone in the trans community would chose to alter a body that functions normally. I do think that having some sort of medical diagonsis is helpful for those who seek any type of medical treatment and getting that treatment covered by insurance companies.

People who seek cosmetic surgery for any number of reasons are not required to submit to a medical diagnosis. If I had gotten into a car accident and needed facial recontruction, the medical system wouldn't tell me that I had to be diagnosis with something. (For some reason the term 'facial dysphoria/identity disorder'  came to mind). I don't think that the standards of what gender is under the medical system is accurate, though. Plenty of people fall outside of the two-catagory system.

But, this is only my personal opinion and I do not speak for everyone.

[Ayden]

I am also in no way saying that mental disorders do not manifest physically. Someone with severe depression does so physical symptoms. I just personally don't think that my condition of being female bodied is mental.

[Felix]

I think it's just another kind of intersex, and doesn't belong in the DSM. That said, I have a hard time getting worked up about it.

[dmx]

I think it's just another kind of intersex, and doesn't belong in the DSM. That said, I have a hard time getting worked up about it.

Pretty much what I think too.

The term "Harry Benjamin Syndrome", which defines it as a physical intersex condition (brain-body mismatch) has potential. Although for some reason it has a negative connotation with trans women who view it as an elitist group. Whatever...

[insideontheoutside]

I'm not sure why there's some folks in the intersex community who frown on transsexualism (not transgender) being classed as an intersex condition. I mean, there's most definitely something going on IN the body. Hormones are very powerful, especially on a developing fetus  (as was my case - mass amounts of T in the womb, but didn't quite turn out all physically male) so I think being transsexual does come with some physical differences from everyone else (cis-gendered, if you will). There's already tons of variations on intersex so why not include this as valid?

That said, I don't believe it's a mental illness or disorder either. They don't call other intersex people mentally disabled. It's a physical condition. I know that because of the current mental classification people are able to get treatment, but I think if being transsexual were classed as intersex and the same treatment options applied it would be better than telling someone they were mentally ill.

However, this might make me unpopular but I'd have to draw the line at transsexual because I honestly believe that being "pansexual" or some of the other myriad of gender and sexual preferences out there does not make you abnormal. I think if someone is androgyne that they're actually normal as well. Does that mean I think they shouldn't have access to treatments like hormones and SRS? I'm really not sure. That's the problem with a lot of things ... like where is a line drawn? Unfortunately it's usually up to someone else to decide this for us all (which is it's own sort of problem).

[Kreuzfidel]

In Australia, transsexualism is treated as a medical condition, not a mental illness.  It's as it should be IMHO.  I know I have other issues with depression and anxiety, but being trans does not make me mentally ill nor anyone else.  I don't know why it's not classed as an intersex condition when other disorders that seem to simply be hormone imbalances of varying description are.

[anibioman]

gonna quote the WPATH standards of care (which i agree within this case) all up in here.

"This statement noted that "the expression of gender characteristics, including identities, that are not stereotypically associated with one's assigned sex at birth is a common and culturally-diverse human phenomenon [that] should not be judged as inherently pathological or negative... transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming individuals are not inherently disordered... The existence of a diagnosis for such dysphoria often facilitates access to health care... Research is leading to new diagnostic nomenclatures, and terms are changing in both the DSM and the ICD."

[Arch]

I feel pretty strongly that it shouldn't be considered a mental disorder.

When I was a kid, I had this heavy secret and felt uneasy about my mental status. When I was a teenager, I thought I was a sicko perv, seriously disturbed. One of my greatest fears was that I would be locked up in a mental ward.

Then, at 26, I discovered the first clinical book then in existence about FTMs. It basically said that we were mentally ill. Transition didn't help us. The only thing that could help us was intensive therapy--so we could learn to accept being women. This book, by a so-called expert with extensive knowledge and experience, did untold damage to me. Sure, I already questioned my sanity--at that point, I had never told a living soul about my longing to live as a man--but to have the expert confirm it was so terrifying that I blocked it out for years, just as I had my molestation. Rather than admit to being seriously mentally ill, I stopped considering transition as an option. I decided I was a crossdresser.

There were various bars to my transitioning at that time. I know that. But I'm talking about the emotional fallout from reading that book with that diagnosis. And I know that most of us know we're not mentally ill. But the stigma remains. And to be perfectly sane but know that some people--some "experts"--classify you as the exact opposite is disturbing and hurtful. I know who I am. Don't try to tell me I'm not.

Because my therapist is a stand-up guy--and because I paid for everything out of pocket--I did not need a diagnosis of GID to get hormones or surgery. I don't know whether U.S. insurance companies (the ones that cover us, I mean) require such a diagnosis, but I suspect that they do.

My depression is a mental disorder. My gender identity is not.

[Felix]

The only thing that could help us was intensive therapy--so we could learn to accept being women.

This disturbs me more than any other aspect of living uncloseted. Learning that anybody thinks this way, that anybody ever thought this way, makes me doubt the value of getting up in the morning, ever.

[justmeinoz]

The WPATH SOC  state that it is not a mental illness, and any problems that do arise are as a result of the way the client is treated by society pretty strongly. 
Unfortunately there are a lot of organisations that have not caught up.  The official Vatican position is that we are mentally ill, for instance.  I looked it up.

Karen.

[Natkat]

I feel pretty strongly that it shouldn't be considered a mental disorder.

When I was a kid, I had this heavy secret and felt uneasy about my mental status. When I was a teenager, I thought I was a sicko perv, seriously disturbed. One of my greatest fears was that I would be locked up in a mental ward.

Then, at 26, I discovered the first clinical book then in existence about FTMs. It basically said that we were mentally ill. Transition didn't help us. The only thing that could help us was intensive therapy--so we could learn to accept being women. This book, by a so-called expert with extensive knowledge and experience, did untold damage to me. Sure, I already questioned my sanity--at that point, I had never told a living soul about my longing to live as a man--but to have the expert confirm it was so terrifying that I blocked it out for years, just as I had my molestation. Rather than admit to being seriously mentally ill, I stopped considering transition as an option. I decided I was a crossdresser.

There were various bars to my transitioning at that time. I know that. But I'm talking about the emotional fallout from reading that book with that diagnosis. And I know that most of us know we're not mentally ill. But the stigma remains. And to be perfectly sane but know that some people--some "experts"--classify you as the exact opposite is disturbing and hurtful. I know who I am. Don't try to tell me I'm not.

Because my therapist is a stand-up guy--and because I paid for everything out of pocket--I did not need a diagnosis of GID to get hormones or surgery. I don't know whether U.S. insurance companies (the ones that cover us, I mean) require such a diagnosis, but I suspect that they do.

My depression is a mental disorder. My gender identity is not.

im sorry to hear you went thought that,
but it sorta reminds me of myself and something I read.
here we got 1 hospital who generally threats transexuals, but they way of threating is in my eyes very wrong so most people go to other countys.
one of the thing is, its very steryotypical jugmenting, and very sexual.
they will point out that your really a man or a women, and insteed of saying "well sure you can be a man and be femenine, then they would rather say " no if your femenine then your not a man" and stuff like that, transgender women can be dignosed ->-bleeped-<- insteed of transexuals because they enjoyed having sex with someone.

those kind of threatment are the reason why theres so much fuss, because people are very unhappy about it and want it to be better,
not to be compared to sexual criminals and generally have the poorly threatment it is, but other belived that even thought its poorly it IS a threatment, and we should try make it better, but NOT remove it to be a mentall illness, because then we would not be able to get any help.

I can tell for everyone who are interesting we actually hit the gold of the signatures and more. so now im wondering if the politicals are gonna change this or not.

[Natkat]

Pretty much what I think too.

The term "Harry Benjamin Syndrome", which defines it as a physical intersex condition (brain-body mismatch) has potential. Although for some reason it has a negative connotation with trans women who view it as an elitist group. Whatever...

I think harra benjamin sound pretty old fashion or maybe its just me

[insideontheoutside]

I feel pretty strongly that it shouldn't be considered a mental disorder.

When I was a kid, I had this heavy secret and felt uneasy about my mental status. When I was a teenager, I thought I was a sicko perv, seriously disturbed. One of my greatest fears was that I would be locked up in a mental ward.

Then, at 26, I discovered the first clinical book then in existence about FTMs. It basically said that we were mentally ill. Transition didn't help us. The only thing that could help us was intensive therapy--so we could learn to accept being women. This book, by a so-called expert with extensive knowledge and experience, did untold damage to me. Sure, I already questioned my sanity--at that point, I had never told a living soul about my longing to live as a man--but to have the expert confirm it was so terrifying that I blocked it out for years, just as I had my molestation. Rather than admit to being seriously mentally ill, I stopped considering transition as an option. I decided I was a crossdresser.

There were various bars to my transitioning at that time. I know that. But I'm talking about the emotional fallout from reading that book with that diagnosis. And I know that most of us know we're not mentally ill. But the stigma remains. And to be perfectly sane but know that some people--some "experts"--classify you as the exact opposite is disturbing and hurtful. I know who I am. Don't try to tell me I'm not.

Because my therapist is a stand-up guy--and because I paid for everything out of pocket--I did not need a diagnosis of GID to get hormones or surgery. I don't know whether U.S. insurance companies (the ones that cover us, I mean) require such a diagnosis, but I suspect that they do.

My depression is a mental disorder. My gender identity is not.

You know, I'm younger than you are and didn't experience this exact thing but I did have several psychologists tell me I was mentally ill. And one did try to force me to just accept being female. And I can say with absolute certainty that the being called mentally ill as a young teen totally f**cked me up. I also felt like I was "sick" and "perverted" at various times. I had believed the bull->-bleeped-<- and thought I really was messed up in the head. It led me to want to escape reality via the only route I could find - alcohol (and later, select drugs).

So if I could say anything to a younger person who is going through this, it's question what the psychologists tell you and just because you feel trapped in your own body and that you're the wrong gender, you are not mentally ill.

[lilacwoman]

Homosexuality and lesbianism are mental illnesses but so many legislators and teachers are G or L or B that their internalised shame made them declassify their afflictions in order to purge the guilt.
As many G and Ls hate TS they ensured TSism was kept as a mental illness despite all evidence to the contrary.
That's my take on it anyway.