I've read a lot of recent threads about guys becoming "jerks" (in their own words) when they get on T. Is this the norm? I really want to go on T, but I don't want to become some kind-of jerk or anything. I'm not saying this is the norm or implying that it is, I'm seriously asking because I'm concerned.
Quote from: Darrin Scott on August 15, 2011, 04:37:14 PM
I've read a lot of recent threads about guys becoming "jerks" (in their own words) when they get on T. Is this the norm? I really want to go on T, but I don't want to become some kind-of jerk or anything. I'm not saying this is the norm or implying that it is, I'm seriously asking because I'm concerned.
Testosterone = added aggression.
Not a personality change. It's a known fact, some people handle the added aggression better than others. Sometimes it take time to get used to the changes that T brings when it comes to aggression and all of that. Workout, play a sport, it helps with aggression. Never changes your personality.
It hasn't changed my personality, except the confidence-boost which has made me more outgoing.
Added aggression, yes, but it's akin to any other male who goes through puberty.
I also experience dysphoria differently. Pre-T I would experience it in a more emotional sense... feelings of helplessness, despair, sadness, etc. where as I now experience it more physically through feelings of rage, and would be inclined to punch something rather than cry. I much prefer it this way.
it made me more aggressive, assertive, more easily angered, and less able to feel/let out my emotions(other then anger and happiness of course)
Oh ok. Thanks. I was just wondering. I was worried about it.
I find my anger is more condensed actually. I've only been on T for like...2.5 months, but before T, I can say that I did have pretty bad anger issues. Punching stuff, throwing stuff, yelling. I just felt like I was going to explode when someone made me mad. Now, I find myself getting angry a whole heck of a lot easier, but it's different. I now feel the anger more inside, like my heart beats really fast and I get tense. I no longer have the need to scream or to punch things. So eventhough I am more irritable, people have commented on how much more control over my emotions I seem to have. I've suddenly found it a lot easier to walk away from bad situations. Just really depends on the person....
I didn't notice any 'added aggression' and I've been on T for 2 years. I've noticed though that with a lower voice it SOUNDS like I am 'more aggressive' if I say something with my new lower voice versus my older feminine voice even if it is the same sentence.
I got irritable for the first few months adjusting to the hormone changes but to me it was no different than PMS or my first puberty. :-\
Quote from: Elijah on August 15, 2011, 07:02:44 PM
it made me more aggressive, assertive, more easily angered, and less able to feel/let out my emotions(other then anger and happiness of course)
this exactly
Quote from: JesseO on August 15, 2011, 07:11:40 PM
I now feel the anger more inside, like my heart beats really fast and I get tense. I no longer have the need to scream or to punch things.
similar for me, when i get angry i can literally feel my heart speed up and thump harder and i can feel the blood in my veins coursing, i do get the urge to punch things now tho, never had that before, but im good at controlling it, like my boss was yelling at me and telling me how bad of a job i was doign and i was getting super pissed but i was able to control myself and just bite my lip and nod
I haven't become more aggressive. I don't get angry more often. I do notice myself getting frustrated more often.
T has made me more laid back and mellow, far less stressed and less prone to flying off the handle. Estrogen made me insane.
Jay
I find that it sneaks up on me more. Before T, I would gradually become more angry/aggressive the longer and more intense the angering stimulus. But on T it simmers a bit, and then it boils over really quickly. It's like the anger just bursts out. Although it's not nearly as violent as my metaphors are making it seem :)
QuoteT has made me more laid back and mellow, far less stressed and less prone to flying off the handle. Estrogen made me insane.
This exactly for me.
QuoteEstrogen made me insane.
Ditto that.
I was way more likely to fly off the handle and act like a crazy person before T.
Coming up on 9 months. I get frustrated fairly easily, but am much quicker to work through it and blow it off.
Dysphoria still rears it's ugly head, but the more changes I see, the happier I feel. Easier to shift focus, sometimes in midstream.
Am starting to believe it's possible to be that happy go lucky guy I was as a toddler.
I also seem to like people more.
It does not change anything, it allows flaws to surface however, much like drinking.
Quote from: tekla on August 16, 2011, 09:44:20 AM
It does not change anything, it allows flaws to surface however, much like drinking.
I disagree, and I feel like most of us wouldn't refer to typically "male" behaviors and attitudes as flaws anyways. Why are you always so negative?
Quote from: sneakersjay on August 15, 2011, 10:55:55 PM
T has made me more laid back and mellow, far less stressed and less prone to flying off the handle.
This is true for me as well. I was diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder in high school. My symptoms were generally exhibited as extreme irritability and anger. Even after getting on meds, my mania wasn't completely controlled. But after getting on T, I'm much calmer and haven't had a manic or hypomanic episode in over a year.
Quote from: -Ryan- on August 16, 2011, 09:57:09 AM
I disagree, and I feel like most of us wouldn't refer to typically "male" behaviors and attitudes as flaws anyways. Why are you always so negative?
Why are you always so stereotypical?
Quote from: Adio on August 16, 2011, 01:14:48 PM
Why are you always so stereotypical?
i'm not sure what you meant here. i made a comment that testosterone is usually taken to make people who identify as male generally "more male" for lack of a better term (you know what i mean. i don't mean you're more or less male before taking t, but rather the appearance and mannerisms align better.) i am very offended that someone would refer to the results of my medication as "flaws surfacing, like drinking".
Quote from: sneakersjay on August 15, 2011, 10:55:55 PM
T has made me more laid back and mellow, far less stressed and less prone to flying off the handle. Estrogen made me insane.
Jay
This
I agree with Ryan with the fact that we all(well most of us) want to be more masculine(not that we need T to make us more masculine, and not that masculinity has a definitive sector of the spectrum laid out for definition), and thus we should accept the fact that T can make us a bit more aggressive, or at least have a shorter fuse than we normally would have without Testosterone, because it is typical in biological men to be so.
However, I think you took what he said the wrong way. He meant that when someone drinks, they're more likely to have less of a filter and much could be said about us being on Testosterone. Testosterone would give any FTM more confidence, and also because there are hormones going crazy, give us a shorter fuse and thus lack of the filter that we might have had before. I think that's all he meant
And I think what he meant by you being stereotypical was that it's stereotypical to denote men as being masculine in the sense that they're aggressive. There are sensitive men in the world, but if you're a sensitive person before T(sensitivity is not a "girly" trait afterall. It's just found more often in females than in males, and if not found more often, then it is spoken of more often from females) then you're going to be sensitive AFTER T, just maybe not as much as you were before. If you're the type of person to talk about your emotions, then you will most likely be after T. Ryan didn't mean anything stereotypical from his statement, and I'm sure tekla didn't mean to be offensive.
I think this is all you guys just twisting eachothers words lol
We're here to support one another guys, not have cockfights.
BTW, Testosterone is a hormone, and it effects everyone differently. There will be no PERSONALITY changes. There may be more mood swings, less mood swings, etc. It's hard to tell. It will however, most likely give you more confidence and give you the illusion of being more aggressive, much like an alpha male would. We are animals afterall.
I think it all depends on where your temperament started. Like anything else there are things that tend to be more male, but those traits are very prevalent in professional and business women so I'm not convinced they are truly male temperaments...just that they are more acceptable in males.
That being said, the biggest change I noticed was my temperament became more even, steady and consistent. It takes a lot more now to throw me out of kilter. My temperament tends to have settled in the good mood, easy-going days of my former PMS cycles. If my family accepts me for no other reason...this they cheer!