Does Gender Dysphoria Fluctuate and Why?
Dr. Z answers whether gender dysphoria fluctuates and what tends to cause fluctuation. Dysphoria undoubtedly does fluctuate, and the degree to which it fluctuates differs depending on the individual. For some, it may fluctuate in very extreme ways—sometimes waking up feeling pretty much no dysphoria, going about your day, then suddenly experiencing severe dysphoria. Sometimes people can go days, weeks, or months with minimal dysphoria, then suddenly find themselves experiencing tremendous amounts.
Dysphoria is bound to fluctuate for numerous reasons. One of the biggest: it's a psychological distress first and foremost arising out of incongruency between gender assigned at birth and gender identity, and as such, that psychological distress is also in relationship to other external sources. Those external sources within your environment are going to potentially exacerbate this psychological distress.
Right now, one of the biggest things exacerbating dysphoria is what's happening in politics regarding attempts to regulate, ban, and control gender-affirming care. When you're constantly bombarded by news directly related to your safety, livelihood, and ability to access basic elements like hormones, that exacerbates dysphoria. Other causes include social stigma, hatred, acts of verbal violence, purposeful misgendering, and coping mechanisms (adaptive vs. maladaptive).
Watch to understand why dysphoria is a beast—not susceptible to logic or control, showing up when it wants.
