very interesting topic. Dysthymia is 'mild depression' as Euthymia is 'mildly happy/stable mood'.
Gender euphoria, hey
To be euphoric about your gender. Hmm, have I ever been euphoric about being male? I suppose so. Though, I would say that I live more often in a state of 'gender satisfaction', with occasional dysphoric episodes, especially when hanging around heteronormative groups. In such situations, I am more inclined to see myself as an 'alien' and to identify with women, because of the way, style and mode of communication in that 'female' enclave. I also wonder about all these things in a world where we were not gender typed, and where we saw the outside body as 'just a shell' and 'not the being'.
Though, if I think this through longer, gender identity comes down to how you see yourself. I have seen people here speak about the 'in-utero endocrine hypothesis' as that adapts to gender identity (we have them for sexual orientation too). That theory posits that in-utero events cause hard-wiring events in the brain, leading to amenability/sensitivity or the opposite, to testosterone sensitivity (causing dysphoria) at puberty, for 'mtf', loosely. But, I've also read at these boards that increases in testosterone at puberty for female-identifiers amplifies dysphoria as sexual arousal peaks by increasing awareness of discrepancies between actual and ideal body shape that one wants.
I'm not at all saying I understand, quite any or part of all of this, but these are just ideas I've picked up as I've read along the way.
I'd really love to learn more....
kind regards
stav
