Now that I have basically finished my transition besides bottom surgery, I'm finding myself being concerned about my mental state. I have always been concerned but I thought that it was mostly because I felt like I was in the wrong body. Now that everything is the way I want it to be, I'm still thinking that there is something else.

In one of my college classes, we read an article about narcissism and psychopathy. As I was reading, I just felt connected to the piece and that I was very, if not exactly, similar to the persons in the article with these disorders. I'm not like a psycho killer or anything but I just have the symptoms that are linked to these disorders. This isn't the first time I've thought about having one of these disorders or researched my symptoms. I have tried anti-depression medication and I've only gone to a gender therapist but I think I need more of a professional to help me. I just want to pinpoint this so that I know but I'm not really sure on how to go about it.

I live in New York and I haven't been able to find a psychiatrist that is linked to transgender individuals. Should I just go to a regular psychiatrist and explain everything? I'm just stuck here and I feel like I need to figure this out or I will go nuts! I'm pretty stuck here and it is getting harder to cope with everyday.

Get a regular psy.

If you go to one that works with trans patients he might just blame transsexualism for how you're feeling.
You shouldn't even mention the fact that you are trans; if you do, it might influence how he diagnoses you.

I agree. Don't let your trans status get in the way of whatever diagnosis or treatment you might need for the other stuff. You sound responsible and rational and it's cool that you're trying to do something about your suffering. People sometimes can't see anything else once they know you are trans and you don't want that to be the focus if it isn't the problem.

See a shrink if you're concerned. But it's a very common thing for people to read something about a personality disorder and think 'oh no, that sounds like me!'. Because many people have traits associated with this or that.

When I was 14 and in a hospital, they tried to say I had Antisocial Personality Disorder. Not sure if it was even 'legal' medically speaking back then to diagnose someone under 18 with that. Or if they were saddling me with the 'pre-version' and would have it as an adult. Anyway, I'm no sociopath.
These diagnoses are thrown around too casually. I really wouldn't worry.

Quote from: Not-so Fat Admin on February 09, 2013, 05:23:28 AM
See a shrink if you're concerned. But it's a very common thing for people to read something about a personality disorder and think 'oh no, that sounds like me!'. Because many people have traits associated with this or that.

When I was 14 and in a hospital, they tried to say I had Antisocial Personality Disorder. Not sure if it was even 'legal' medically speaking back then to diagnose someone under 18 with that. Or if they were saddling me with the 'pre-version' and would have it as an adult. Anyway, I'm no sociopath.
These diagnoses are thrown around too casually. I really wouldn't worry.

I completely agree - thrown around casually is right.

It's true that a lot of people self-diagnose themselves with stuff like that way too often.  I considered it for myself last year because I really am just not a very empathetic person.  I had something really, really bad happen to my assistant's sister-in-law last year and didn't even care.  I was just angry that she was going to be out for a few days to take care of it and that she spent an hour crying to me about it when I really didn't care.  I knew that wasn't a good thing to think, but honestly, it just makes me a selfish dick, not a psychopath.  There are other times when I do actually care about the effects my actions have and I don't like seeing people being taken advantage of.  Everyone has good and bad qualities.  Spend some time looking for the good in yourself, too.  You'll probably find enough to convince yourself you're not a psychopath.  Whether you are or not, though, if your thoughts and feelings are causing you that much distress, you should talk to someone (I would argue, also, that a psychopath probably wouldn't be very distressed by his feelings).

 I think that the reason this could be trans, is that danged it but trans takes a LOT of work and mental space. In fact I think that I spend about 90% thinking about it in some way or other. I used to think about lots of stuff but I don't anymore.

The other thing that the guy at our trans center says is that T (or any cross hormone) makes you go thru puberty again. You know ALL the stuff in puberty. It's true not all trans people do this but some people's second puberty is actually really pronounced with lots of psychological issues like rage (not from T!). Being a jerk is sort of what teenagers are! If you KNOW this is part of being on T, you might be more able to work around these things and help others you live with help you. IN the group we talked about having others around you tell you when you are beign like this and you could work it out together.


Nothing like a class in psychology to give you every dx in the book! I took abnormal psych once. OMG!

Ok, so what if there is something that actually worries you? Well then the idea of talking about it with someone else might make sense. I would talk to your current one as this could all be related in a way you didn't think of.

--Jay

Quote from: kenton_07 on February 08, 2013, 10:39:36 PMIn one of my college classes, we read an article about narcissism and psychopathy. As I was reading, I just felt connected to the piece and that I was very, if not exactly, similar to the persons in the article with these disorders. I'm not like a psycho killer or anything but I just have the symptoms that are linked to these disorders.

As others have said, this is very common. The thing about disorders is that, technically, lots of people have the symptoms and, when they read about it, it tends to resonate with them. For it to be a disorder though, it has to be extreme in comparison. For example, it's normal to be anxious, but not everyone who is anxious has an anxiety disorder.
If you want my advice, I'd suggest seeing a psychologist first. For most psychiatrists, their job is to diagnose (and, as has already been mentioned, diagnoses get tossed at people a lot) and prescribe pills. Personally, I believe this should be a last resort. There are many different things to try first. If you want my opinion, I'd try to pinpoint what you want to work on first. A therapist can help you with that and help you figure out where to go from there.

I've heard it's common for students to see themselves in case reports while learning psychology or general medical practice. I think it's important for you to remember that misdiagnosis of the self is not uncommon and to see a professional. You may just be over-analyzing your situation.