gender dysphoria

noun

: a distressed state arising from conflict between a person's gender identity and the sex the person was identified as having at birth

I am a 24-year-old transgender woman, and I know gender dysphoria very well. My distress over my physical body, my feeling that it doesn't always match up with my gender identity, often lurks in some far corner of my mind. It doesn't matter how well I'm dressed, how much I brush my hair, how many compliments I receive, or how well my hormone therapy treatment is working. When gender dysphoria hits, it packs a punch.

—Serena Sonoma

also : a condition marked by such distress

The treatment for gender dysphoria is often multi-disciplinary, combining the efforts of several behavioral health and medical professionals. … Non-operative treatment focuses on implementing psychosocial therapy and/or medical management with hormone replacement therapy. Operative treatments range from small cosmetic procedures to much larger genital transformation surgeries.

—Danyon Anderson et al.

compare gender euphoria

Examples of gender dysphoria in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

All of this advocacy persists despite a lack of solid evidence that what is commonly called gender-affirming care alleviates gender dysphoria in kids or reduces the chance that gender-distressed youth will commit suicide. —Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2024

If not treated, gender dysphoria can lead to physical and psychological harms, the Biden administration has warned, including depression and self-harm. —Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 3 Dec. 2024

Clinical practice guidelines from the American Endocrine Society -- based on more than 260 research studies -- recommend consideration of medications to treat gender dysphoria in young people but waiting until a child reaches adulthood to consider gender-affirming surgery. —Devin Dwyer, ABC News, 2 Dec. 2024

Canter had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria before being incarcerated, and jail officials knew it, but discriminated against her over time, the lawsuit says. —Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

gender dysphoria

noun

: a distressed state arising from conflict between a person's gender identity and the sex the person was identified as having at birth

Nonbinary people may or may not use medical approaches to align their identities and physical bodies, and, like transgender people, some nonbinary people experience gender dysphoria while others do not.

—Elizabeth Kukura, Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics

also : a condition marked by such distress

Scientists have no conclusive explanation for what causes some people to feel dissonance between their gender identity and aspects of their anatomy. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association updated its manual, replacing the term "gender identity disorder," with one that is less stigmatizing, "gender dysphoria."

—The New York Times

compare gender euphoria