Gender Dysphoria

The new DSM-5 category of gender dysphoria replaces the former diagnosis of gender identity disorder, which was a controversial diagnosis in DSM-IV . DSM-5 has changed important criteria and no longer considers doubts about one's gender to constitute a mental disorder. Rather, gender dysphoria is solely concerned with the affective concerns and not the determination of the physical outcome. Psychological treatment for gender dysphoria will generally involve a team approach that incorporates psychotherapy along with medical treatment. Other specific gender dysphoria would be diagnosed when the full criteria for gender dysphoria are not met even though symptoms cause significant functional impairment. Unspecified gender dysphoria refers to presentations in which the full criteria for gender dysphoria are not met and there is insufficient information to make a more specific diagnosis, or the clinician chooses not to specify the reason.