The Stigma Against Transgender People as Mentally Ill

There is an unfortunate stigma in society that all transgender individuals must be mentally ill or disordered simply for being transgender. However, this blanket labeling is inaccurate and overlooks the nuances surrounding mental health and gender identity.

While some transgender people do experience a condition called gender dysphoria involving distress over their gender identity, being transgender itself is not considered a mental illness.

This article will explore the stigma against transgender people as mentally ill, explain what gender dysphoria is, discuss why labeling all transgender people as disordered is wrong and damaging, and advocate for greater empathy, understanding, and acceptance.

What is Gender Dysphoria?

Gender dysphoria is a diagnosable condition where someone experiences significant distress and discomfort due to a mismatch between their biological sex assigned at birth and their internal gender identity.

For example, someone assigned male at birth who identifies as a woman may feel high levels of anxiety, depression, alienation, and dissatisfaction with having male physical characteristics that do not align with their sense of self as a woman.

Gender dysphoria has specific diagnostic criteria outlined in the DSM-5, the standard classification used by mental health professionals. It can be a severely uncomfortable condition, and some individuals experience such intense distress that they contemplate or attempt suicide.

People with gender dysphoria often seek treatment to help align their outer selves with their inner identity and find relief from this distress. Treatments include counseling, hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgeries, social transitioning to living as their identified gender, or a combination.

With appropriate treatment tailored to the individual, gender dysphoria can be effectively managed or resolved entirely.

Once their dysphoria is adequately treated, transgender people can go on to lead healthy, functional, and fulfilling lives, free of mental distress over their gender. For many, proper treatment allows them to finally feel comfortable in their skin.

Why Stigmatizing All Transgender People as Disordered is Harmful

While some transgender individuals do suffer from gender dysphoria at some point, it's important to note that not all do. There are transgender people who do not feel notable distress about their bodies or gender identity but simply identify as a different gender than the one assigned to them at birth.

Additionally, some trans people had gender dysphoria in the past, but it dissipated after they were able to transition socially and/or medically. Claiming that all transgender people must have an inherent mental disorder or illness simply because they are transgender is factually incorrect.

Being transgender or gender non-conforming is not considered a mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association, the leading authority on mental health classification.

Other major medical organizations also affirm this, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the World Health Organization.

Perpetuating the stigma that all transgender people are mentally disordered or delusional contributes to harmful discrimination, prejudice, and mistreatment. Transgender individuals already face exponentially higher rates of violence, suicide, homelessness, bullying, and barriers to accessing adequate healthcare.

But these heartbreaking issues are not inherent to being trans; rather, they are largely created by an unaccepting, hostile society. Spreading misinformation that trans people are "sick" or "deranged" worsens the societal oppression they already contend with daily.