Beyond Madness discussion

Internet site concerning a mental disorder

Gender Identity
http://www.genderpsychology.org/gid_case_study/index.html
I chose GID gender identity disorder or gender dysphoria
because I want to know and understand this disorder better. I
didnt find a description in the textbook about GID but this
disorder is strongly correlated with depression, anxiety, and
personality disorders. In one instance a transgendered professor
of psychology shares personal experiences about her own mental
illness known as GID. Her name is Maddie. She was born a male,
but since age 3 she knew she was a girl. She was very confused
about her gender identity. Then, later in fifth grade, she tried very
hard to be a boy by participating on the wrestling team, but she
didnt know how to fix herself. One time she heard a comment
from a teacher talking about a village where girls become boys at
puberty. Maddie was hoping she would turn into a girl when
puberty came. She got very excited, when in reality Puberty
destroyed my fantasy that I would just 'become' a girl. It was so
horrible. My face starting growing the itchy hair and nobody
accidentally called me "miss" anymore (Maddie).
Since she was little, she had been teased, bullied, and even
beaten up. She knew gender was part of her struggle. She
thought about suicide and she took extra pills from her parents
medication cabinet. She said it was not enough to kill herself.
The biggest shock was to my self-concept; I went from being
perceived as this really, really, *really* weird guy to this incredibly
*normal* girl!!!! (Maddie).
To understand more about GID, Neuropsychologists have found
male-to-female transsexuals have a brain region similar to a
woman instead of like men. This area is called the bed nucleus of

the stria terminalis. The textbook enlightens us with a quote sex

matters, in combination with the environment, sex-related genes
and physiology result in behavioral and cognitive differences
between males and females (pg. 129). Other explanations
related to the textbook say gender identity can be a hormonal
influence in the womb through genetic and environmental factors.
Gender identity disorder becomes socially isolating through low
self-esteem and anxiety disorder. An example is feeling and
cognition, a doubt-laden appraisal of ones safety or social skill,
beginning in childhood, people repress intolerable impulses,
ideas, and feeling and that this submerged mental energy
sometimes produces mystifying symptoms. (pg. 465),
personality disorders psychological disorders characterized by
inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social
functioning (pg. 487). Adolescents with GID have more risk for
depression and suicidal attempts.
I cannot imagine a human being, in childhood, living in such pain,
confusion, loneliness, and doubt. Like Maddie, she didnt ask for
any help or answers, until one day she had the courage to change
her gender and confront her family and society to fight for her
beliefs and happiness. After losing over two decades of my life
to trying to fulfill everybody else's expectations for me, I decided
to fulfill my own expectations and transition to become a woman
(Maddie).