Do you need a professional to tell you you're trans?

[Elis]

I don't think you need a professional to tell you you're trans; but it's healthier to see someone to put your mind at rest that you don't have a personality disorder which could cause you to feel trans. And like max said it's good to have the confirmation for family members because they seem to think immediately you don't know your own mind. Then again that perpetuates the believe trans can be diagnosed. I don't think you should have to jump through hoops to please multiple therapists; having to lie to make them believe you perfectly fit the stereotype of a trans man in order to get the hormones you need or to wait until 18 to get help because that somehow means you don't consider trans to be a phase and you're serious about it. One therapy appointment seems fair to rule out any mental health problems and to see if you're mentally ready; then they should just give you the hormones.

From reading other people's posts about seeing therapists I find the American system to be absurd. Your expected to look online to find a therapist who has 'experience with gender identity' written on their profile; which could either mean they have up to date knowledge that trans is a neurological condition and you don't have to fit the stereotype or could mean I'm going to say you're confused and talk you out of 'harming' yourself. And then you have to go see the therapist hoping they're the former or if they end up being the latter you leave the session more depressed and dysphoric than you were before. In the UK you go to a gender identity clinic; whether private or rum by the NHS and you're guranteed that the therapists have good knowledge on trans people; not just the condition but what they have to go through.

Sorry for the slight rant; correct me if I misunderstand anything.

[FTMax]

I don't think you need a professional to tell you you're trans; but it's healthier to see someone to put your mind at rest that you don't have a personality disorder which could cause you to feel trans. And like max said it's good to have the confirmation for family members because they seem to think immediately you don't know your own mind. Then again that perpetuates the believe trans can be diagnosed. I don't think you should have to jump through hoops to please multiple therapists; having to lie to make them believe you perfectly fit the stereotype of a trans man in order to get the hormones you need or to wait until 18 to get help because that somehow means you don't consider trans to be a phase and you're serious about it. One therapy appointment seems fair to rule out any mental health problems and to see if you're mentally ready; then they should just give you the hormones.

From reading other people's posts about seeing therapists I find the American system to be absurd. Your expected to look online to find a therapist who has 'experience with gender identity' written on their profile; which could either mean they have up to date knowledge that trans is a neurological condition and you don't have to fit the stereotype or could mean I'm going to say you're confused and talk you out of 'harming' yourself. And then you have to go see the therapist hoping they're the former or if they end up being the latter you leave the session more depressed and dysphoric than you were before. In the UK you go to a gender identity clinic; whether private or rum by the NHS and you're guranteed that the therapists have good knowledge on trans people; not just the condition but what they have to go through.

Sorry for the slight rant; correct me if I misunderstand anything.

Nope, that is accurate. Unfortunately, the US is a much larger place than the UK and we don't have any kind of nationalized healthcare. So getting a uniform experience from person to person is almost impossible unless they are both using the same providers. We currently don't have any standards or credentialing for folks who want to call themselves gender therapists, though I have been told WPATH is working to correct that. So whenever that comes around, that should make a big difference in the quality of people's experiences. And until then - there are plenty of competent options for people to pursue, they just need to do their research.

That isn't to say NHS is the ideal. As much as it would be nice to know that my providers are knowledgeable and to not have to worry about the expenses involved with transition, the associated wait times and limited surgical options in country would not make me a happy camper. And that unfortunately seems to be the trade off between the US and UK systems.

[jossam]

I don't think you need a professional to tell you you're trans; but it's healthier to see someone to put your mind at rest that you don't have a personality disorder which could cause you to feel trans.

There are trans people who have personality disorders. One doesn't exclude the other. I don't think a personality disorder can make a person feel trans in a constant, genuine way. BPD might cause some people to feel like they desperately need to fit somewhere so they might pick labels in order to feel like they belong but what is more likely to happen is that some doctors just don't believe being trans is possible or don't approve of it, so they use disorders like BPD to "justify it", but one can also be BPD and be trans, just like one can be schizophrenic and genuinely trans. BPD has a lot of symptoms that overlap with other disorders (depression, anxiety, substance abuse, dissociative disorders). Bad psychiatrists/therapists can use BPD as a weapon when they don't understand what the patient really has, and yes it can include being trans, resulting in wrong diagnosis. BPD can be overly diagnosed.
At some point in my life I could fit at least 8 BPD criteria out of 9. Now things got better and I'm much more stable.

One therapy appointment seems fair to rule out any mental health problems

Things like this make it sound like trans people are required to have zero mental issues in order to be taken seriously by doctors. It's impossible. Being trans can cause things like depression, anxiety, social anxiety. Most trans people struggle with feelings of depression. Negative experiences in life can cause the development of personality disorders during teenage years and early adulthood, and we all know being trans isn't easy and can make us experience bad stuff over the years.
I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder....no doctor can tell me these disorders invalidate my choice to transition. No doctor can invalidate my trans identity just because of those disorders. I know myself more than any other doctor in the world, because it's me, it's my mind and I live with it all the time. And I study mental disorders, especially personality disorders, so doctors can't really come to me and talk bs and pull the wrong diagnosis because they have someone who's very educated about these matters right in front of them, and I wouldn't believe them or I'd question their real intentions. It's easy for me to spot when a therapist is skeptical or has "bad intentions".

Mental health professionals can be very unprofessional. They can be very biased. They can also be ignorant about their own field. Some people treat them like gods on earth. I say be careful, cause there are many psychiatrists and psychologists that cause trouble.

[Elis]

Sorry; I didn't make my point very clear :/. I understand you can have BPD and still be trans; that why I said could cause you to feel trans. And I also understand you can have mental health problems which don't invalidate you being trans at all. I meant there are a minority of people who may have something else which makes them feel trans. It's rare but happens. For me personally I was and am 100% sure I'm trans; but I couldn't stop my mind from believing the worst. So seeing a therapist helped even though she was up to date on what trans is; so knew she couldn't diagnose me. But was able to rule out anything else.

I agree mental health professionals can be biased and take advantage of patients. That's why I made the point about the American health system.

[jossam]

It's ok Elis. Yeah only we can know for sure. We have to analyze ourselves a lot during therapy so we can describe ourselves accurately. I had a therapist say I am incredibly capable of having a lot of insight. And this other therapist kinda said it too the other day. Maybe it's because I wanted to become a psychiatrist. Haha.

Well, in America there's this religious anti-trans movement and the conversion therapies, so lgbt people there should be extra careful. Not saying these things don't exist in other countries, but the US has this large religious fundies community and it has political support. I know conversion therapies are illegal there but I read they found ways to avoid the US law :/