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TheGaygency

Glossary

Dysphoria

Gender dysphoria is the distress that can arise from a mismatch between a person's gender identity and their assigned sex or body.

Gender dysphoria is the distress that can arise when a person's gender identity does not match their sex assigned at birth or aspects of their body and social role. Not every transgender person experiences dysphoria, and its absence does not make a trans identity any less real. The term entered the DSM-5 in 2013, replacing the older "gender identity disorder" to shift the focus onto distress rather than transgender identity itself. The DSM-5 states plainly that gender nonconformity is not a mental disorder. The ICD-11 uses "gender incongruence" and does not classify it as a mental disorder at all. Gender-affirming care, which can include social transition, hormones, and surgery, is associated with reduced dysphoria and improved wellbeing.

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