Being transgender no longer classified as mental illness

[SaysWho?]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/20/transgender-not-mental-illness-world-health-organization/717758002/

 

Quote

WHO announced Monday that in its newly released edition of the International Classification of Diseases, gender incongruence will now be classified as a sexual health condition.

 

Gender incongruence is "characterized by a marked and persistent incongruence between an individual’s experienced gender and the assigned sex," according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

 

For example, a person who was born with a penis and is biologically male but identifies as female. Not every transgender person has gender incongruence, said Dr. Jennifer Conti, a fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health.

 

"It was taken out from the mental health disorders because we had a better understanding that this wasn't actually a mental health condition and leaving it there was causing stigma," said Dr. Lale Say, coordinator of WHO's Adolescents and at-Risk Populations team. "So in order to reduce the stigma while also ensuring access to necessary health interventions, this was placed in a different chapter."

 

[brucoe]

It took them long enough. For the longest time, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the "mental illness" involved with the state of being transgender was the amount of backlash such people received from non-transgender people who treat anyone different as complete trash.

[MarSolo]

Is it being replaced with liberalism?

[SuperSpreader]

I don't know... It seems like it's obviously a chemical issue in the brain. It's certainly not "as designed". I don't fault people for being transgendered - but let's not get closer to saying people are trans because of their soul and not because of science. 

[darkness35]

36 minutes ago, MarSolo said:

Is it being replaced with liberalism?

No, apparently video addiction is now classified as a mental illness.

 

Yet they had the opportunity to put gun violence as one.  Fucking bastards.

[Greatoneshere]

53 minutes ago, 2user1cup said:

I don't know... It seems like it's obviously a chemical issue in the brain. It's certainly not "as designed". I don't fault people for being transgendered - but let's not get closer to saying people are trans because of their soul and not because of science. 

 

How does one argue when a chemical release or genetic trait is simply "different" vs. "bad and needs to be corrected"? I think transgenderism is the former. 

[SuperSpreader]

17 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

How does one argue when a chemical release or genetic trait is simply "different" vs. "bad and needs to be corrected"? I think transgenderism is the former. 

The function runs counter to the design. I don't think it needs to be corrected nor do I think it's "fixable". People who are trans are doing what they can given their circumstances, I don't envy their plight. If we argue that just "different" applies here then the same logic can be used excuse/justify other behaviors that are more destructive. I feel that we are venturing into anti vaxxer territory with this type of argument.

 

But I'm not a doctor. 

[Greatoneshere]

4 minutes ago, 2user1cup said:

The function runs counter to the design. I don't think it needs to be corrected nor do I think it's "fixable". People who are trans are doing what they can given their circumstances and I wouldn't want their plight. If we argue that just "different" applies here then the same logic can be used excuse/justify other behaviors that are more destructive. I feel that we are venturing into anti vaxxer territory with this type of argument.

 

But I'm not a doctor. 

 

My parents and both my brothers are doctors; one brother is a psychiatrist. I'm personally no expert, but you have a presumption that the "function runs counter to the design" but there is no "design" that is presumptively built into the human body - so long as it can keep living, that's really it's only function (that, and to procreate, which is a choice), and arguably even death is a choice.

 

I absolutely agree if someone's chemical reactions or genetic traits are hurting themselves or others (or causing them to do something egregiously illegal in some way) then yeah, call it a mental disease or disorder. But no, the same logic could not be used for more destructive beahviours because, as you said, they are more destructive, thus making them different than this, thus using the same logic is impossible because they are entirely different contexts. Transgenderism isn't destructive, rape and murder are. 

 

Anti-vaxxers? It's not the same at all, since the choice not to vaccinate actually affects other people, like second-hand smoke. Transgenderism isn't anything like those. 

[SuperSpreader]

What I mean is it seems like some of this is emotionally driven, as anti-vaxxers are rather than logically driven. 

 

I can see your argument about destructive v non destructive but I don't know if that's how we categorize mental disorders - which is why I say it's weird to excuse one imbalance and not others because of societal expectations that are fluid. 

 

Changing categories isn't going to lead to more acceptance - conservatives don't give a fuck about this and will continue to be assholes. All this is - is an emotional gesture that accomplished nothing long term for the trans community. The real change has to be societal acceptance and understanding - and that's going the opposite way.

[Greatoneshere]

33 minutes ago, 2user1cup said:

What I mean is it seems like some of this is emotionally driven, as anti-vaxxers are rather than logically driven. 

 

I can see your argument about destructive v non destructive but I don't know if that's how we categorize mental disorders - which is why I say it's weird to excuse one imbalance and not others because of societal expectations that are fluid. 

 

Changing categories isn't going to lead to more acceptance - conservatives don't give a fuck about this and will continue to be assholes. All this is - is an emotional gesture that accomplished nothing long term for the trans community. The real change has to be societal acceptance and understanding - and that's going the opposite way.

 

This is actually a big win for trans people - just ask one of them. To be acknowledged that what you are isn't a medical condition but "natural" in the same ways straight or gay people are considered "natural" makes them feel validated - as they should. It was the same with homosexuality. And it does given the alt right less fodder if they can't point to science (they rarely can these days anyway, but every little bit helps). So this does help, though what you say is also important with regard to acceptance and understanding.

 

And yes, mental health disorders can be based on their destructiveness. That's how many of them have been discovered - it was hurting themselves or the people around them. Transgenderism doesn't hurt anybody. Destructiveness is a key factor in determining mental disorders (not the only factor however, of course). 

 

Narcissistic personality disorder, for example (a mental health disorder our very president suffers from) is only diagnosable through its destructiveness on and towards others, as all its symptoms only exhibit themselves from how the person treats others. 

[run32.dll]

I support trans people's rights and think they should be treated with dignity and respect and so on but I am having a hard time wrapping my head around how something for which the treatment is to have invasive surgery that severely alters what was otherwise normally functioning parts of the body and taking medication to block or replace hormones isn't considered a disorder.

[Guest]

It’s still a medical condition, just not a mental illness.

 

And I’m going to out on a limb here and guess that most trans folks don’t want to be trans, irrespective of outside factors like social acceptance. They would prefer a body that matches their gender identity.

[run32.dll]

1 minute ago, sblfilms said:

It’s still a medical condition, just not a mental illness.

 

And I’m going to out on a limb here and guess that most trans folks don’t want to be trans, irrespective of outside factors like social acceptance. They would prefer a body that matches their gender identity.

I knew a person who swore what they wanted to be is a woman with a penis and the decision was, according to them, largely influenced by porn found on 4chan. I am guessing that's an outlier and you're right that most would rather have been born as the gender they identify with.

[Greatoneshere]

12 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

It’s still a medical condition, just not a mental illness.

 

And I’m going to out on a limb here and guess that most trans folks don’t want to be trans, irrespective of outside factors like social acceptance. They would prefer a body that matches their gender identity.

 

Well put. It is indeed a medical condition, just not a mental illness. And the body is indeed the "flaw", not the gender identity.