Back on the Blog: the APA

[Shana A]

Back on the Blog: the APA
Becky Allison

http://blog.drbecky.com/2009/06/13/back-on-the-blog-the-apa/

I'm still in Chicago, but a few hours before the full group activities start.  I thought I'd take a little time to tell about our experiences at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Francisco last month.

By way of background, and many of you already know this, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is in its planning phases.  The current edition, DSM-IV, contains a diagnosis of "Gender Identity Disorder" in the general category 302, "Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders," which also includes... well, in this blog for all to view, let's just say the category focuses on the activity rather than the identity. 

We Who Should Know – who are labeled with this diagnosis – maintain that our identities are fixed from earliest life, and do not change despite the most intense and (sometimes) well intended efforts to modify identity through modifying behavior.  Such efforts have consistently produced worsening unhappiness up to, and including, suicidal thoughts and actions.