As part of my research paper a question I put down to answer is,
"What is it like living with Gender Dysphoria (or incongruity as I'm told I don't know which) as an adult?"
Being as though I'm still a teenager I don't know what that's like. If anyone would offer any real life experiences that'll be great and much appreciated. Like if anyone here felt/knew they where trans* and didn't/couldn't do anything about it until they were well into adulthood. Or for those as adults now and just now getting things straightened out and done about it. I could answer the child and teen one a bit better being I went through childhood and am almost through with teen years. But adult life? Need help.
Also if anyone can tell me how they found out, knew, discovered, or thought they were trans* I'd like that too. I have a bunch of books and all but comments from anywhere would be well appreciated!
One more thing: I put down, "If GD is a disorder, is it mental or neurological?" Now according to Gale Encyclopedia, its not necessarily a disorder but trans* people have the mental brain structure of the sex they associate with (that'll make sense!) and therefor act as that sex. But any input I'd like.
I can't wait to give this to my teacher and teach my psych class a thing or two about something they are very uneducated about. A few kids keep saying, "Well I know this kid like that." Doesn't mean much, yall know me -_-
well, last first, my brain seems to have been wired like this from birth , it's the only possible reason because I fought disphoria since I was 4 years old , absolutely nothing can explain that except maybe a traumatic brain injury which never happened. As far as living with dysphoria it's been hell on earth. I lived with it continuously for 60 years, being in denial and ignorance about getting help. I've had a lot of Psychotherapy , but I was never able to talk about the problem out of fear of humiliation. The only reason I'm in transition is because the end was one step off the top of my apartment building. It seriously was either transition or die. I lost my job of 20 years because the company went down. The same night I was sitting out in front of a Starbucks, it was summer and the end was right in front of me, I decided to get help at the hospital , admitted to being transgender and started the process.
It should have been more than obvious to me as a teen that I was trans. But we didn't have the vocabulary or any information back then--or at least I didn't. Also, the conservative, religious environment I grew up in didn't encourage me to explore these issues. For safety's sake it was necessary to repress it. If I thought about it at all, I considered ->-bleeped-<- an illness that needed to be resisted.
That's pretty much how my entire adult life went: don't think about it, don't let anybody know, don't waste time thinking about how ashamed of yourself you are. Just play dead and maybe they'll leave you alone. And as for that deep, painful longing in your heart, no point in trying to figure out what it is--that won't get you anywhere. So the years go by, and you never feel like you've lived a one of them. You're just going through the motions and wondering why life is so consistently tedious and empty.
It's only been in the last few years that I finally decided it was time to look into things. Maybe at least I could figure out what made me tick, even if it didn't change my life. Well, there's lots of info on the net these days, forums, etc. I did figure out what made me tick and it did in fact change my life.
Some people consider it a disorder. But when you get to know people, see if you can find one who isn't disordered in one way or another. If we're disordered, we've got plenty of company.
I'm a 25 year old FTM Transexual. I always new something wasn't right. I always dreamed of being a boy, but never told anyone until I was 17. That's when I found out about transgender boys. Before then I only thought that bio men were the only ones that can transition because I had never met or heard of an FTM. I attempted to transition at 17 but with no resources available and a family that just wouldn't talk about it, I kinda gave up. Earlier this year I made the decision to finally transition, not because the feelings were back but because they never left. I started my transition in the summer. Now I'm 50 days on T. My brain and body finally recognize each other. Even though I'm not thrilled about having "top parts", I can live with whats downstairs. Living as an FTM in the middle of transition isn't the hardest thing for me. My experience has been a good one. I consider myself very lucky. Everyday I work with people that treat me like a human being. I pass very well, even when I was pre-T. Life so far has improved for me in many ways. I'm not sad or depressed because I'm the wrong sex because I'm actively doing things to push my transition forward. I'm almost to my top-surgery fund goal. Hoping that by summer I will have had the procedure already. That is the plan, but anything can happen. I've learned to be patient and to keep focused. It wasn't easy but I managed to stay on track. I have no regrets. As far as family goes, I currently live with them. They know, but I never once told them. They see the changes happening yet not one talks about it. If they can't bring up the courage to talk about it, then I'm not going to bother. I feel that if they love me, they won't make a big deal out of me transitioning. Although I had tons of dysphoria before, I still have some. Mainly top dysphoria. Will it ever go away, only time will tell. Life is learning and re-learning. Life is also what you make of it. I put everything on the line when I decided to transition. Work is going well. Some family members have stopped talking to me, even though I never actually came out to them. It happens. But hey, I'm the one that has to go out and live my life. People can't live my life for me.
If there are any other questions, feel free to PM me.
Thanks for answering this will help greatly and add some insight into my paper. Ill post on how this went later!
Quote from: LatrellHK on December 30, 2014, 09:26:55 PM
Thanks for answering this will help greatly and add some insight into my paper. Ill post on how this went later!
only A+ is acceptable