What does the DSM-5 say about "gender dysphoria"?
The DSM-5 is remarkably honest regarding what it says about “gender dysphoria”. I have found the relevant pages are 455, 456, 703 and 818. I have copied these pages from the DSM-5 and posted them at the bottom of this post, so you can read them, as it is well worth it.
Pages 455 and 456 describe the two types of male gender dysphoria: “early-onset”, related to nascent homosexuality, and “late-onset” related to “transvestic behavior with sexual excitement” i.e. autogynephilia. On page 703 “autogynephilia” is described as increasing the likelihood of gender dysphoria, and “autogynephilia” is defined on page 818.
The NHS’s page on “gender dysphoria” in comparison, leaves out all this context, and presents “gender dysphoria” as a case of having a “mismatch between [one’s] biological sex and their gender identity.”
You can see how the lie works — it’s a lie of omission. The NHS’s page on “gender dysphoria” gives the false impression that there are a class of “transgender” people, even children, who have some “mismatched” “essence” of the opposite sex, a reworking of the well-known “feminine essence narrative”.
The NHS further lie and say that “Gender dysphoria is not related to sexual orientation”, when you can read clearly, that “gender dysphoria” in the DSM-5 is related to atypical sexual orientation/sexuality, namely homosexuality or autogynephilia.
I have been asking the NHS to update this page on “gender dysphoria” since 2022, which I cover in my objection to the puberty blocker trial. This page continues to cause havoc when you complain to charities, schools, etc., as they just turn around and refer to this page to justify teaching children that they could have a “mismatched gender identity”.
I believe that this page was written by an activist organisation like the Gender Identity Research and Education Society. In the same way we have “Stonewall law”, where activists write what they think the law should be in training material, there also appears to be “Stonewall psychology”, where activists write NHS material on what they think psychology should be.
The Cass Review made updating the NHS’s page on “gender dysphoria” a specific task, but it still hasn’t been done yet:
NHS England will update the NHS.uk webpages on ‘gender dysphoria’ to reflect the findings of the Cass Review
This should have been the very first step, as after all, how can you “treat” people, if you don’t know what it is, or who you are supposed to be treating?
I predict, however, that what will happen, is that as the DSM-5 is too honest, the page on “gender dysphoria” will be deleted and replaced with “gender incongruence”.
“Gender incongruence” is the new ICD definition, with all the uncomfortable parts about cross-dressing and autogynephilia removed, probably as the ICD has been captured by activists. There are very few places that are not captured today.
The UK’s proposed puberty blocker trial is already using this new “gender incongruence” definition. Arguably, if they used the DSM-5, then this would show what they are proposing to do as madness: block the puberty of children who mostly grow out of what they are feeling, who are likely to be homosexual? Block the puberty of children for the sake of some cross-dressers?
The activism is predictable. Now children will be taught that there are some people who have an “incongruent gender”, a “feeling that what you feel inside doesn’t match your body”, which is a pretty universal feeling when growing up. This poisonous idea will continue the social mental health contagion, and a negligent medical profession will provide surgery on-demand as a matter of “social justice”.
