Trans Psychiatrist -Gender Affirming Lecture Series- P4: Gender Incongruence Vs. Gender Dysphoria

*All Content Is Opinion - Not Medical Advice

Hi! I'm Dr. Jamie (she/they). I'm a medical doctor, psychiatrist, WPATH GEI SOC8 certified member, and gender researcher who specializes in gender affirming care. I am also a veteran.

In this video, I will discuss the evolution the diagnosis of gender dysphoria and gender incongruence, and why the latter should be adopted.

References:

American Psychiatric Association, D. S. M. T. F., and D. S. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. Vol. 5. No. 5. Washington, DC: American psychiatric association, 2013.

Robles, Rebeca, et al. "Validity of categories related to gender identity in ICD-11 and DSM-5 among transgender individuals who seek gender-affirming medical procedures." International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology 22.1 (2022): 100281.

Safety Resources:
-Trans Lifeline: 855-578-5683 
-Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 (available for all LGBTQ+ youth) 
-National crisis hotline: 988 
-The QTP Loveline: [phone]. This is an immediate, on-demand, 24/7 service. 
-Text HOME to 741-741 where you will reach a crisis counselor. It’s free and confidential, and 24/7. 
-NYC Anti-Violence Project: 212-714-1141. It’s a warmline staffed by volunteers, in English and Spanish, who are trained as crisis counselors and backed up by clinicians. 

#education #genderstudies #medicaleducation #transgenderstudies #healthcare #healthcaretips #genderaffirming #nonbinary #transgenderawareness #transgenderhealth #minority #lgbtqia #lgbtqi

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Disclaimer: These videos are not meant to be considered medical advice. If you have questions about your gender identity or any topic discussed on this channel, I recommend seeking a qualified medical or mental health professional

[ivorydungeon]

I really like the way that your video highlights that there is a kernel of incongruence in TGD people, but that dysphoria itself is something that emerges in contexts that relate to normativity; gender coercion etc. Apart from the research you offer that suggests its validity, I think it's actually a bit conceptually neater as well. It seems to make less assumptions and it also seems to emphasise that being TGD in itself is not what causes dysphoria but that dysphoria can emerge as a TGD person in a cis-normative world. This is important because it helps to reinforce the big picture: we are a naturally occurring phenomenon and it's the arbitrary rules that can and ought to be changed. Diversity can not be managed out of existence but norms are limited only by our imaginations; the ability to observe the consequences of our norms; and the power to generate and modify these norms. Whether it's our one word intention or not, we are tenacious! 🏳‍⚧💓💌❤‍🔥🏴👧

[joniroberta]

Thank you very much, Jamie! This is an excellent series of videos. I'm especially glad to learn about the sensitivity/specificity study.

[jessicaellington]

Dr. Jamie, thank you so so much. I'm a new psychiatric NP, and I'll be inheriting a case load with a large gender diverse population. Your videos are beyond helpful for me and will help me be a better more inclusive provider. Thank you so much!

[aeon]

THANX So MUCH 4 THIS video Jamie! I was not AWARE of GI -THIS puts a lotta things into a much clearer perspective 4 me!🧐🦄🌈🦋🏳️‍🌈⚧️

[robynrox]

I've been diagnosed four times with GI and twice with GD; I think the UK NHS still needed GD for surgery and probably still does. It's the only thing I think I can add to this that may be useful knowledge. Happy new year!

[whoviating]

Just a general note for everyone: I, at least, am still getting the issue where I have to sort comments by "Newest first" to see them all. You may need to do the same.

[ReikkiKyraJonsun]

Thank you again..was hard going- for a non medical person- so easy to see why misdiagnosis exists

[ehhwhatevericantthinkofago]

Part of me wonders if I pushed myself to fit into the mold of gender dysphoria. But I am a little scared that gender incongruence would a fit less with me. Because I was very resistant to give myself room to engage with gender outside of the one I was assigned, yet I did definitely feel extreme distress.

I almost feel like it could be good to have both definitions as they do seem diagnostically different, and might help with identification in cases which manifest differently. For instance if you have extreme gender dysphoria without being certain on if you have incongruence, maybe gender play could be given as a recommendation to help discover if an incongruence is present. Idk just spitballing, and my understanding of the definitions are coming from a layman perspective that has not read the relevant medical literature.

[whoviating]

It seems, if I understand correctly, that the difference between gender incongruence and gender dysphoria that the latter is when the stress from the former is bad enough to require a greater degree of treatment, kind of like the difference between cancer diagnosed at State 1 and some later stage. (Not to compare being transgender with cancer except in the idea of levels of how aggressive is the appropriate level of care.)

Is that understanding at least more or less accurate, or am I missing something?

[BreeKolean]

How does that affect insurance companies to get people help

[marti]

IMO the important point is conversion therapy does not work for GI/GD. Transition does. Therapy's function is to eliminate sources of GI/GD related to trauma and other pathologizing conditions. Bottom line, get a good therapist.