Describe and differentiate gender dysphoria and transvestic disorder. What are the causes and treatments of these disorders?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Gender dysphoria s characterized by distress and impairment in functioning that results from a marked incongruence (mismatch) between one's experienced or expressed gender and one's assigned gender as a boy or girl. Gender dysphoria is diagnosed only when there is significant distress or impairment in functioning resulting from the individual's transgender identity and experiences. Individuals with gender dysphoria may display a strong dislike of their sexual anatomy, a desire for sexual characteristics of their experienced gender, and rejection of objects or activities associated with their assigned gender.The etiology of gender dysphoria is unclear. Because it is quite rare, investigators have focused more attention on other disorders. Gender dysphoria appears to be more common in males than in females and occurs in both children and adults (Lawrence, 2008). In all likelihood, a number of variables interact to produce gender dysphoria. Biological Influences Biological research suggests that neurohormonal fac- tors and genetics may be involved in the development of a transgender identity (Ghosh & Pataki, 2012).Psychological and social explanations for gender dysphoria must also be viewed with caution.Transgender people, including those with gender dysphoria, often decide to pursue gender reassignment therapies, which involve changing their physical characteristics through medical procedures such as hormone treatment or surgery. Hormone therapy (taking hormones associated with the perceived gender) as part of gender reassignment has decreased the distress and psychological reactions associated with gender dysphoria, and has improved the quality of life and sexual functioning in many transgendered individuals (Murad et al., 2010).In addition to hormone therapy, some transgender individuals, such as Lana Lawless, choose to have gender reassignment surgeries that change their existing external genitalia to those of the other gender.

Transvestic disorder occurs when intense sexual arousal is associated with fantasies, urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing (wearing clothes appropriate to a different gender). This disorder should not be confused with having a transgender identity, whereby the individual psychologically identifies with and dresses in accordance with cultural norms for the opposite gender. Although some transgender people and some lesbians and gay men cross-dress, most people who cross-dress are exclusively heterosexual. For a diagnosis of transvestic disorder, the cross-dressing must cause significant distress or impairment in important areas of functioning. Although it is likely that multiple factors contribute to the development of paraphilic disorders, we still have much to learn about paraphilias. Investigators have attempted to find genetic, neurohormonal, and brain anomalies that might be associated with paraphilic disorders with varying amounts of success.Among early attempts to explain paraphilic disorders, psychodynamic theorists proposed that these sexual behaviors represent unconscious conflicts that began in early childhood (Schrut, 2005).Learning theorists stress the importance of early conditioning experiences in the etiology of paraphilias (Brannon & Bienenfeld, 2013).Behavioral approaches to treating sexual deviations have generally involved one or more of the following elements (Kaplan & Krueger, 2012): (a) weakening or eliminating the sexually inappropriate behaviors through processes such as extinction or aversive conditioning; (b) acquiring or strengthening sexually appropriate behaviors; and (c) developing appropriate social skills.