If gender dysphoria isn't an illness. What is a comparable condition?

[lfromnj]

Also if it isn't an illness why should it be covered by healthcare?

[RFK 2024]

Calling it an “illness” or “condition” implies there’s something wrong with the person who has it.  Much like homosexuality was classified as an illness in the past, things evolve and our understanding of the human mind changes.  There really is nothing comparable to it.  

Also there’s a zero percent chance this isn’t rage bait.  Just look at how the question is worded.  I get it, I’ve never really understood the trans thing either.  But we just got to let people live man.  Our world is changing, time to move on

[Since I'm the mad scientist proclaimed by myself]

Medication is necessary for most trans people to live a happy life. That doesn't mean that calling being trans a mental illness or whatever you want it to be is the only option.

[Antonio the Sixth]

As far as I can understand, gender dysphoria is a mental condition. That's not the same as saying being trans is a mental condition - in fact it's arguably the opposite, as social and/or medical transitioning is generally considered to be the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

[vitoNova]

A comparable condition is being born left-handed.  

It is neither a mental condition nor an illness.  Nor is it a choice.  

Any other answer besides this, is illogical.   And wrong.

And the "problem" lies within societal norms and mores.  And not the individual. 

[lfromnj]

As far as I can understand, gender dysphoria is a mental condition. That's not the same as saying being trans is a mental condition - in fact it's arguably the opposite, as social and/or medical transitioning is generally considered to be the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

I specifically called out dysphoria for that reason instead of being transgender. I'm using the medical communities term for it. So what exactly is a mental condition similar to it ?
Everyone can agree bipolar and depression are mental illnesses but then what exactly is gender dysphoria . Did doctors make up a whole new class just for them because its stigmatized? Does this move not by itself stigmatize people with depression ?

[Antonio the Sixth]

As far as I can understand, gender dysphoria is a mental condition. That's not the same as saying being trans is a mental condition - in fact it's arguably the opposite, as social and/or medical transitioning is generally considered to be the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

I specifically called out dysphoria for that reason instead of being transgender. I'm using the medical communities term for it. So what exactly is a mental condition similar to it ?
Everyone can agree bipolar and depression are mental illnesses but then what exactly is gender dysphoria . Did doctors make up a whole new class just for them because its stigmatized? Does this move not by itself stigmatize people with depression ?

I have no idea what your actual gripe is, but obviously I'm not a mental health expert and I don't think anyone on this forum is, so I wouldn't be the best person to answer it. I'm speaking of mental conditions rather than mental illnesses just to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure there's an actual medical difference.

Anyway, another problem is that "gender dysphoria" is kind of a loose umbrella term that can cover a lot of different thing. Sexual dysphoria (where iirc the issue is literally a mismatch between the body and how the brain is wired) is really a whole different beast from dysphoria based on social gender roles (which tbh plenty of cis people live with every day, myself somewhat included). Conflating the two together probably does a lot to obfuscate these issues, but I'm really not qualified to talk about the former.

[lfromnj]

As far as I can understand, gender dysphoria is a mental condition. That's not the same as saying being trans is a mental condition - in fact it's arguably the opposite, as social and/or medical transitioning is generally considered to be the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

I specifically called out dysphoria for that reason instead of being transgender. I'm using the medical communities term for it. So what exactly is a mental condition similar to it ?
Everyone can agree bipolar and depression are mental illnesses but then what exactly is gender dysphoria . Did doctors make up a whole new class just for them because its stigmatized? Does this move not by itself stigmatize people with depression ?

I have no idea what your actual gripe is, but obviously I'm not a mental health expert and I don't think anyone on this forum is, so I wouldn't be the best person to answer it. I'm speaking of mental conditions rather than mental illnesses just to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure there's an actual medical difference.

Anyway, another problem is that "gender dysphoria" is kind of a loose umbrella term that can cover a lot of different thing. Sexual dysphoria (where iirc the issue is literally a mismatch between the body and how the brain is wired) is really a whole different beast from dysphoria based on social gender roles (which tbh plenty of cis people live with every day, myself somewhat included). Conflating the two together probably does a lot to obfuscate these issues, but I'm really not qualified to talk about the former.

I'm asking are there any other types of mental conditions thats not an illness but in a similar category to dysphoria .

[Antonio the Sixth]

As far as I can understand, gender dysphoria is a mental condition. That's not the same as saying being trans is a mental condition - in fact it's arguably the opposite, as social and/or medical transitioning is generally considered to be the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

I specifically called out dysphoria for that reason instead of being transgender. I'm using the medical communities term for it. So what exactly is a mental condition similar to it ?
Everyone can agree bipolar and depression are mental illnesses but then what exactly is gender dysphoria . Did doctors make up a whole new class just for them because its stigmatized? Does this move not by itself stigmatize people with depression ?

I have no idea what your actual gripe is, but obviously I'm not a mental health expert and I don't think anyone on this forum is, so I wouldn't be the best person to answer it. I'm speaking of mental conditions rather than mental illnesses just to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure there's an actual medical difference.

Anyway, another problem is that "gender dysphoria" is kind of a loose umbrella term that can cover a lot of different thing. Sexual dysphoria (where iirc the issue is literally a mismatch between the body and how the brain is wired) is really a whole different beast from dysphoria based on social gender roles (which tbh plenty of cis people live with every day, myself somewhat included). Conflating the two together probably does a lot to obfuscate these issues, but I'm really not qualified to talk about the former.

I'm asking are there any other types of mental conditions thats not an illness but in a similar category to dysphoria .

This implies a substantive difference between "mental illness" and "mental condition" which I'm not sure actually exists. Maybe it does, but if so, doesn't that answer your question? And if it's not, then you're free to use whatever term you prefer. I don't think it's transphobic to call gender dysphoria a mental illness as such - just as long as you recognize that transitioning is the most effective treatment for it.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Gender dysphoria is an illness if it is experienced as something which requires treatment to alleviate suffering.

[lfromnj]

As far as I can understand, gender dysphoria is a mental condition. That's not the same as saying being trans is a mental condition - in fact it's arguably the opposite, as social and/or medical transitioning is generally considered to be the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

I specifically called out dysphoria for that reason instead of being transgender. I'm using the medical communities term for it. So what exactly is a mental condition similar to it ?
Everyone can agree bipolar and depression are mental illnesses but then what exactly is gender dysphoria . Did doctors make up a whole new class just for them because its stigmatized? Does this move not by itself stigmatize people with depression ?

I have no idea what your actual gripe is, but obviously I'm not a mental health expert and I don't think anyone on this forum is, so I wouldn't be the best person to answer it. I'm speaking of mental conditions rather than mental illnesses just to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure there's an actual medical difference.

Anyway, another problem is that "gender dysphoria" is kind of a loose umbrella term that can cover a lot of different thing. Sexual dysphoria (where iirc the issue is literally a mismatch between the body and how the brain is wired) is really a whole different beast from dysphoria based on social gender roles (which tbh plenty of cis people live with every day, myself somewhat included). Conflating the two together probably does a lot to obfuscate these issues, but I'm really not qualified to talk about the former.

I'm asking are there any other types of mental conditions thats not an illness but in a similar category to dysphoria .

This implies a substantive difference between "mental illness" and "mental condition" which I'm not sure actually exists. Maybe it does, but if so, doesn't that answer your question? And if it's not, then you're free to use whatever term you prefer. I don't think it's transphobic to call gender dysphoria a mental illness as such - just as long as you recognize that transitioning is the most effective treatment for it.

If the difference doesn't exist then why was gender dysphoria dropped from the list of mental illnesses?

FWIW I actually do appreciate you and almost everyone for the fairly good faith engagement on this thread .

[Ferguson97]

I'm not sure that there is a comparable condition. Does it need to be compared to anything?

[Antonio the Sixth]

As far as I can understand, gender dysphoria is a mental condition. That's not the same as saying being trans is a mental condition - in fact it's arguably the opposite, as social and/or medical transitioning is generally considered to be the most effective treatment for gender dysphoria.

I specifically called out dysphoria for that reason instead of being transgender. I'm using the medical communities term for it. So what exactly is a mental condition similar to it ?
Everyone can agree bipolar and depression are mental illnesses but then what exactly is gender dysphoria . Did doctors make up a whole new class just for them because its stigmatized? Does this move not by itself stigmatize people with depression ?

I have no idea what your actual gripe is, but obviously I'm not a mental health expert and I don't think anyone on this forum is, so I wouldn't be the best person to answer it. I'm speaking of mental conditions rather than mental illnesses just to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure there's an actual medical difference.

Anyway, another problem is that "gender dysphoria" is kind of a loose umbrella term that can cover a lot of different thing. Sexual dysphoria (where iirc the issue is literally a mismatch between the body and how the brain is wired) is really a whole different beast from dysphoria based on social gender roles (which tbh plenty of cis people live with every day, myself somewhat included). Conflating the two together probably does a lot to obfuscate these issues, but I'm really not qualified to talk about the former.

I'm asking are there any other types of mental conditions thats not an illness but in a similar category to dysphoria .

This implies a substantive difference between "mental illness" and "mental condition" which I'm not sure actually exists. Maybe it does, but if so, doesn't that answer your question? And if it's not, then you're free to use whatever term you prefer. I don't think it's transphobic to call gender dysphoria a mental illness as such - just as long as you recognize that transitioning is the most effective treatment for it.

If the difference doesn't exist then why was gender dysphoria dropped from the list of mental illnesses?

FWIW I actually do appreciate you and almost everyone for the fairly good faith engagement on this thread .

Thanks. I just don't have an answer for you here, because I don't follow the development of American psychiatry and I don't know what has been said from that corner on the matter. There might be valid reasons for the change but I'm not aware of them. Either way, I don't think the DSM-whatever we're on now ought to regulate casual conversation.

Frankly, as I said, my main problem with gender dysphoria is that it's such a hybrid concept that it obscures as much as it explains. Again though I'll leave it to other to define these terms more precisely.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Gender dysphoria is an illness if it is experienced as something which requires treatment to alleviate suffering.

I would agree with this and I think the insistence on categorizing it otherwise is politically motivated, but in this case it's a political motivation with which I agree: we live in a society that's deeply hostile to anyone perceived to be ill, and insisting against that perception is intended to lessen the hostility.

[lfromnj]

Gender dysphoria is an illness if it is experienced as something which requires treatment to alleviate suffering.

I would agree with this and I think the insistence on categorizing it otherwise is politically motivated, but in this case it's a political motivation with which I agree: we live in a society that's deeply hostile to anyone perceived to be ill, and insisting against that perception is intended to lessen the hostility.

Doesn't this move stigmatize people with depression or bipolar. Why not rename the category of everything ?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Gender dysphoria is an illness if it is experienced as something which requires treatment to alleviate suffering.

I would agree with this and I think the insistence on categorizing it otherwise is politically motivated, but in this case it's a political motivation with which I agree: we live in a society that's deeply hostile to anyone perceived to be ill, and insisting against that perception is intended to lessen the hostility.

One thing that's specific to sexual dysphoria, and which might warrant holding it somewhat apart from "mental illness" as a cognitive category, is that the overwhelming scientific evidence shows that the most effective treatment for sexual dysphoria is medical transitioning, which is a physical process. I don't think we have any other example of a mental illness that is most effectively treated through physical medical procedures. Of course, the barrier between the physical and the mental are themselves ambiguous, but like, I think we can see that there's a clear difference between taking hormones vs taking antidepressants, even if the former also have psychological effects. So I think this might be a cause for treating sexual dysphoria differently.

On the other hand, I don't find it particularly problematic to think of social gender dysphoria as a mental illness. It's a mental illness that's caused by external social forces, but hey, so are many other mental illnesses. I don't think it's a coincidence that anxiety and depression are increasingly prevalent in the age of unfettered, atomized late capitalism, for example.

[Pink Panther]

I'm not qualified whatsoever to make a confident declaration on this matter, but I've always seen gender dysphoria as a mental condition that's on par with Autism or ADHD, in that it requires treatment most, if not all cases, but it generally doesn't lead to major deviations from living a normal life barring extreme cases and the disorder doesn't eventually spawn any actual illnesses down the line.

But as Antonio already covered, the distinctions between what constitutes a "mental illness" and "mental disorder" can be extremely hazy and unclear, and as I have already stated before, I'm not qualified to make a definitive statement on the matter. However, considering how taboo the term "mental illness" is, I would expect conflict of interests moving forward on this issue.