{"id":13576,"date":"2024-05-04T23:30:53","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T21:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mind.se\/?page_id=13576"},"modified":"2025-01-06T14:59:35","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T13:59:35","slug":"trans-and-gender-identity","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/facts-about-mental-health-and-wellbeing\/trans-and-gender-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Trans and gender identity\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"hero-simple-block_c0b4b5ad486d9483365dc75d28c5953c\" class=\"block hero-simple container  hero-simple--text hero-simple--blue\">\n\t<article class=\"hero-simple__inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"hero-simple__content hero-simple__content--left\"><h1 class=\"hero-simple__header hero-simple__header--left\">Trans and gender identity <\/h1><div class=\"editor-content hero-simple__text\"><p>The mental wellbeing of transgender people \u2013 just like everyone else \u2013 varies. Some people are doing well while others aren\u2019t, and this can change throughout life. However, it\u2019s more common for trans people to suffer ill health. This can be due to a variety of reasons, such as lack of respect from other people or the experience of gender dysphoria. Thinking about your gender identity can also be overwhelming. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\t<\/article>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<section id=\"single-col-text-block_19b2578f92bf377bbe88d7aa33a7131a\" class=\"block single-col-text \">\n\t<div class=\"container container--tiny\">\n\n\t\t<div class=\"single-col-text__container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"editor-content single-col-text__text\"><h2 class=\"h3\">What do trans and gender identity mean?<\/h2>\n<p>Gender identity indicates which gender you identify with. This can be communicated by means of various gender expressions, such as clothing, body language, hairstyle or make-up. Only you can know and decide your gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>Trans is an umbrella term that brings together two different ways of being transgender:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You have a gender identity that differs from the gender assigned at birth.<\/li>\n<li>You sometimes have a different gender expression, and this is an important part of your identity as a trans person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Perhaps you were assigned female gender when you were born but feel like a boy\/man, or you were assigned male gender but feel like a girl\/woman. Or you\u2019re non-binary and feel like neither a girl\/woman nor a boy\/man, but both, genderless (agender) or something in between. Another way of being trans is feeling comfortable dressing in a way that\u2019s not traditionally associated with your gender. Although it\u2019s an important part of your identity, you feel like the gender you were assigned at birth. This is often referred to as being a crossdresser (rather than the outdated and possibly offensive term transvestite).<\/p>\n<p>Trans doesn\u2019t say anything about your sexual orientation. Who you want to have sex with or fall in love with isn\u2019t dependent on the gender you identify with. A transgender person, just like anyone else, can be gay, straight, bi or anything else that describes their sexual orientation.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3\">What is gender dysphoria?<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s common for trans people to experience gender dysphoria. This is the distress caused by the fact that your gender identity doesn\u2019t match the gender that others see you as. Gender dysphoria can be physical, in that you don\u2019t recognize yourself in the mirror and may have trouble accepting parts of your body. You may also feel uncomfortable when you hear your own voice. Gender dysphoria can also be social, when others don\u2019t see you as you are and don\u2019t use the pronoun you want to be addressed by. It can also be distressing when your name doesn\u2019t match your gender identity. Conversely, gender euphoria is what you experience when your gender identity is affirmed and you feel good about it.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3\">How can gender dysphoria affect your everyday life?<\/h2>\n<p>How gender dysphoria feels varies from person to person. You may feel it all the time, or you may feel it only some of the time. Gender dysphoria can affect your everyday life and cause you to avoid certain situations. You may, for example, find it difficult to be naked in front of other people. So, you might avoid taking part in sports at school or showering with others.<\/p>\n<p>Feeling different can be difficult, and you may experience feelings of shame, exclusion and insecurity. As a trans person, you\u2019re also more likely than the average person to have experienced violence or abuse, which can affect how you feel.<\/p>\n<p>A supportive social network can mean a great deal, especially when you\u2019re in the process of figuring out your gender identity or coming out to those around you. The age at which this happens is individual. Some people know they\u2019re trans already at a young age, others not until they\u2019re older.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3\">What can prove helpful and what help is available?<\/h2>\n<p>It can prove helpful and feel good to meet other trans people with similar experiences to yours. To find contexts where you can be yourself and part of a community. There are various associations and organizations that you can turn to.<\/p>\n<p>You may also want to try different ways of expressing yourself, such as by trying different ways of dressing, different hairstyles and different make-up techniques.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone has the right to be themselves and feel good about it. If you\u2019re feeling down, low or depressed, contact your healthcare centre or a psychiatric clinic. They can also offer you further guidance if you need gender-affirming care.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"h3\">What is a gender dysphoria assessment?<\/h2>\n<p>If you need gender-affirming care or to change your legal gender, first you need to undergo a gender dysphoria assessment. It\u2019s not your gender identity that\u2019s being assessed, and being transgender isn\u2019t a diagnosis. However, gender dysphoria is something that can be assessed and alleviated with treatment.<\/p>\n<p>The assessment is conducted at so-called gender dysphoria clinics, which are staffed by people knowledgeable about gender dysphoria. The assessment aims to find out how your gender dysphoria manifests itself and whether gender-affirming care can be expected to alleviate your gender dysphoria. The length of the assessment varies as it\u2019s individually tailored.<\/p>\n<p>A referral is needed to attend a gender dysphoria clinic. Different clinics have different rules. Some accept self-referrals, while others want child and youth psychiatric care (BUP) or an adult psychiatric clinic to provide the referral. If you\u2019re not sure about your gender identity, you can start by talking to a counsellor at a youth clinic or contacting a counselling centre for LGBTQI people.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reviewed by:<\/strong> Edward Summanen, social worker and expert on trans issues.<\/p>\n<p>Last edited 2024-02-16<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<section id=\"info-text-block_9671768594e579ab0436558dedbf639b\" class=\"block info-text \">\n\t<div class=\"container container--small\">\n\n\t\t<div class=\"info-text__container\">\n\t\t\t<i class=\"info-icon fa-solid fa-circle-info\"><\/i>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"editor-content info-text__content\"><p>Support information, facts and events can be found at:<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"arrow-link arrow-link--large\" href=\"https:\/\/transammans.se\/english\/\">Transammans<\/a><br \/>\n<a class=\"arrow-link arrow-link--large\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rfsu.se\/en\/this-is-rfsu\/in-english\/about\/\">RFSU<\/a><br \/>\n<a class=\"arrow-link arrow-link--large\" href=\"https:\/\/transformering.se\/english\">RFSL Ungdom \u2013 transformering.se<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":16930,"featured_media":8695,"parent":13346,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"It\u2019s common for trans people to experience gender dysphoria. This is the distress caused by your gender identity not matching the gender seen by others.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-13576","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13576"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13581,"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13576\/revisions\/13581"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13346"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mind.se\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}