gender dysphoria in mental health & psychopathology

gender dysphoria in mental health & psychopathology

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  GENDER DYSPHORIA PRESENTED BY:RABIA JAVED IQBAL
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  INTRODUCTION • Gender dysphoriarefers to the distress that may assigned gender. Although not all individuals will experience distress as a result of such incongruence, many are distressed if the desired physical interventions by means of hormones and /or surgery are not available • Gender dysphoria is discomfort with ones sex-relevant physical characteristics or with one’s assigned gender • Duration of this disorder is at least 6 months
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  GENDER DYSPHORIA INCHILDREN Girls with gender dysphoria • May express the wish to be a boy, assert they are a boy, or assert they will grow up to be a man. • prefer boys' clothing and hairstyles, are often perceived by strangers as boys, and may ask to be called by a boy's name. • Display intense negative reactions to parental attempts to have them wear dresses or other feminine attire. • Some may refuse to attend school or social events where such clothes are required.
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  • These girlsmay demonstrate marked cross-gender identification in role- playing, dreams, and fantasies. • Contact sports, rough-and-tumble play, traditional boyhood games, and boys as playmates are most often preferred. • They show little interest in stereotypically feminine toys (e.g., dolls) or activities (e.g., feminine dress-up or role-play).
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  BOYS WITH GENDER DYSPHORIA They wishto be a girl or assert they are a girl or that they will grow up to be a woman. They have a preference for dressing in girls' or women's clothes or may improvise clothing from available materials These children may role play female figures (e.g., playing "mother") and often are intensely interested in female fantasy figures.
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  • Traditional feminineactivities, stereotypical games, and pastimes are most often preferred. • Stereotypical female-type dolls (e.g.. Barbie) are often favorite toys, and girls are their preferred playmates. They avoid rough-and- tumble play and competitive sports and have little interest in stereotypically masculine toys (e.g., cars, trucks).
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  GENDER DYSPHORIA IN ADOLESCENTSAND ADULTS Young adolescents with gender dysphoria: • Clinical features may resemble those of children or adults with the condition, depending on developmental level. • As secondary sex characteristics of young adolescents are not yet fully developed, these individuals may not state dislike of them, but they are concerned about imminent physical changes.
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  ADULTS WITH GENDERDYSPHORIA • The discrepancy between experienced gender and physical sex characteristics is often, but not always, accompanied by a desire to be rid of primary and/or secondary sex characteristics and/or a strong desire to acquire some primary / secondary sex characteristics of the other gender. • They may adopt the behavior, clothing and mannerisms of the experienced gender. • They feel uncomfortable being regarded by others, or functioning in society, as members of their assigned gender.
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  CONTINUE………. • Some adultsmay have a strong desire to be of a different gender and treated as such, and they may have an inner certainty to feel and respond as the experienced gender without seeking medical treatment to alter body characteristics. • They may find other ways to resolve the incongruence between experienced/ expressed and assigned gender by partially living in the desired role or by adopting a gender role neither conventionally male nor conventionally female.
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  CAUSES OF GENDERDYSPHORIA Psychological Social Biosocial Biological
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  PSYCHIATRIC AND BIOLOGICAL CAUSES •Studies suggest that gender dysphoria may have biological causes associated with the development of gender identity before birth. • More research is needed before the causes of gender dysphoria can be fully understood.
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  GENETIC CAUSES OFBIOLOGICAL SEX Hormonal causes • Hormones that trigger the development of sex and gender in the womb may not function adequately. • For example, anatomical sex from the genitals may be male, while the gender identity that comes from the brain could be female. • This may result from the excess female hormones from the mother’s system or by the fetus's insensitivity to the hormones.
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  ANDROGEN RECEPTOR • Theresearch suggests that reduced androgen and androgen signaling contributes to the female gender identity of male-to- female transsexuals. • The authors say that a decrease in testosterone levels in the brain during development might prevent complete masculinization of the brain in male-to-female transsexuals and thereby cause a more feminized brain and a female gender identity
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  Other causes of Gender Dysphoria There maybe chromosomal abnormalities that may lead to gender dysphoria. Sometimes defects in normal human bonding and child rearing may be contributing factor to gender identity disorders.
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  TREATMENT
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  PSYCHOTHERAPY • Individuals canbe taught about self - awareness and confidence needed to handle any issues arising in their daily lives. • The support of family members can be engaged through the use of group, marital, and family therapy, which can help in creating an accommodating and encouraging environment • Through the use of speech therapy, male-to- female individuals with gender dysphoria can learn how to engage their voice and sound a lot female while talking.
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  PHARMACOLOGIC THERAPY Some individuals mayalso have comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, such as depression, anxiety, or psychosis. These are best treated with medications like antidepressants, anxiolytics, and antipsychotics. For females seeking a male transformation, the hormone testosterone will be helpful in promoting body hair. Many individuals, especially those desiring a complete transformation will need hormonal therapy to enable that process.
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  SEXUAL REASSIGNMENT SURGERY SRS among teenagersremains a controversial topic, and much debate continues on this issue. In many countries, SRS is not available to teenagers, on the other hand, having this treatment done in the early stages when secondary sex characteristics are not fully formed, may be helpful. In adults, there is a reported satisfactory result in 87 percent of male-to-female and 97 percent of female-to- male SRS patients Opposite sex genitals reassignment.
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  HORMONE THERAPY • If childhas gender dysphoria and they've reached puberty, they could be treated with gonadotropin- releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues. • These are synthetic (man-made) hormones that suppress the hormones naturally produced by the body. • GnRH analogues suppress the hormones produced by child’s body which in turn suppress puberty. • The effects of treatment with GnRH analogues are considered to be fully reversible, so treatment can usually be stopped at any time after a discussion between parent, effected child and doctor.