DSM?
One can quote the DSM, but the DSM itself warns against non professionals doing so. It also mentions built in weaknesses, lack of research for future diagnosis. It focuses on diagnosis that can be treated with therapy, drugs, surgery, or other procedures.
And even then it creates NOS = Not otherwise specified diagnosis as a sorta catch-all for other related possible people.
What does the DSM say about itself?
About categories and criterion
Quote"there is no assumption that each category of mental disorder is a completely discrete entity with absolute boundaries..."
About only professionals using it
QuoteIt is important to understand that the appropriate use of the diagnostic criteria requires clinical training and that they cannot be simply applied in a cookbook fashion.
There is no medicine, no surgical procedures, no therapy that can cure bigender. Its a bible for TS, because such diagnosis can lead to a letter, that leads to hormones, that leads to a year rlt, that leads to surgery.
Bigenderists dont need letters, hormones, srs, or anything like that. None that I know of at least.
To other transgender people, its worthless. Even the TV or CD, except to compare to TS. And even then there is no clear cut definitions citing exact circumstances. The leave open ended things like the NOS.
QuoteGIDNOS
And, to accommodate anyone who does not meet the specific sub-classification criteria, the DSM-IV has a "catch-all" classification:
302.6 Gender Identity Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (GIDNOS)
As for TS, it just comes down to 5 main things. Persistence of desire, need to pass, desire to live as, conviction, and desire to get rid of birth characteristics.
QuoteIn adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptoms such as
A. stated desire to be the other sex,
frequent passing as the other sex,
desire to live or be treated as the other sex,
or the conviction that he or she has the typical feelings and reactions of the other sex.
B. preoccupation with getting rid of primary and secondary sex characteristics
DSM is mainly a TS topic.
About topics not included. Well what does the DSM say about it?
QuoteQ: What does it mean if a diagnosis is not included in the DSM?
A: It only means that, as of 1994, there was not sufficient data to justify its inclusion in the DSM-IV. Just because a category is not included in DSM-IV does not necessarily mean that it is invalid, or not worthy of being a focus of research or treatment.
QuoteAs the DSM has become increasingly more informed by research, so has the basis for inclusion of new categories in the DSM. As stated above, originally categories were included because they were felt to represent what psychiatrists were treating. In later editions of the DSM (DSM-III-R and DSM-IV), new categories were only considered for inclusion if there was significant data available to allow critical consideration of the relevant merits and risks of inclusion. In contrast, some categories that date back to older editions of the DSM may have relatively little empirical data. Thus, because the data requirement for consideration of new categories has become more stringent, some proposed categories that were ultimately rejected may have had more data available than grandfathered categories already in the DSM.
http://dsmivtr.org/2-1faqs.cfm
