Is it weird or uncommon to get more dysphoria once you know you're trans?

[wolfxheart]

I identified as genderqueer for a few years, and I had dysphoria, which eventually led me to understanding that I'm more binary trans and want to medically transition and all that. But that realization has been like getting hit with a train, and my dysphoria is worse than ever, I'm stress crying almost every night, etc. I got my first binder a few days ago and although it's been one of the happiest things that has ever happened to me, somehow at the same time it's just reminding me how far away from where I want to be that I am (I'm not even out to my parents, my friend bought me the binder and shipped in to their boyfriend's house [cause he and I live in the same city and my friend and I don't] so that I could get it behind my mom's back) and it makes me feel crappy. Is that strange, or possible to have been so in denial I wasn't feeling it all the way before?

[Ms Grace]

Hugs. Sadly, yes it is common. The more clarity you have around your gender identity and how much it doesn't align with your assigned gender the more other issues are brought into focus and the more heightened your dysphoria can be. The good news is that it usually does diminish as you start to express your identified gender more and more.

[darkblade]

Well, for one my chest dysphoria was barely more than vague discomfort before I my binder. Now, it's definitely more present when I'm around my family and not binding. Otherwise when I'm at school and stuff, I barely take it off. Didn't realize how much I wanted a flat chest until the first time I wore my binder. So yeah, I suppose it increases the more aware of it you are.

[Ptero]

I was just asking myself the same question these weeks !!

It's like a vicious circle : My dysphoria heightened a lot, so I decided I could not continue like that, making me more conscious than anytime that I am trans and want to transition, and so my dysphoria heightened more, so I bought a binder, and now it's like it's impossible not to wear it all the time... what next ?!

So, now I suppose it's common