Navigating Dysphoria: A Woman's Guide!

Dr. Z discusses how to manage increased anxiety and shares the two most common patterns for why anxiety and gender dysphoria tend to increase when occupying femme, women-specific spaces.

As trans women, you're going to find yourself in what we stereotypically and socially call very women-centric spaces. Often these spaces are more on the private side—for example, public bathrooms (but private spaces), dressing rooms in department stores, locker rooms at gyms, spa areas. Why do so many experience a heightened stress and a heightened increase in gender dysphoria when stepping into those spaces?

Dr. Z would say that in her experience, what you're actually feeling is increased gender anxiety. Once you tap mentally and intellectually into the gendering that is the true feeling, it's almost like a domino effect—it drops the domino into you, starting to feel an increase in undeniably gender dysphoria.

Those spaces—you're going to have to occupy them, too, because you belong in those spaces. In Dr. Z's opinion, trans women are undoubtedly women who should have every right to be in women-centric spaces.

Watch this video as Dr. Z explores two patterns for why gender anxiety tends to go up when occupying these spaces.