Not Everyone Transitions! When Transition is NOT Worth It.
Dr. Z explores when transition is not worth it. We spend a lot of time talking about the importance of gender transition, how much it can benefit one's life, alleviate gender dysphoria, and how essential it is for so many individuals' well-being. But we seldom talk about when a person is at the crossroads and has to actually ask themselves: Is it even worth it for me at this point in my life? Am I really going to get the benefits it's meant to deliver? Most importantly, if I do get the benefits, will I actually reap the rewards of those benefits?
Dr. Z thinks that considering whether the transition is even worth it is a very important question to ask oneself. Today, we're so inundated with ideas that dysphoria equals you must transition—that's the only treatment, the only option out there. Part of it is that a lot of us make it seem like it is the only option when clearly there are a lot of people who have been living and struggling with gender dysphoria for decades and decades, may have even found their own ways of coping and managing.
In Dr. Z's experience, this question of "is it actually worth it for me" is often asked by older adults. Usually people who fall into two categories: people in their mid-40s who by that time have established careers, lives established around them, and don't know if it's going to benefit them in the long run; and older adults 55 and up who have their life situated—more than careers, they have interpersonal life situated with partners, children, grandchildren, friendships—and the question stems from "do I really want to rock everything I have going for me?"
Watch this video as Dr. Z addresses when dysphoria is severe enough that transition becomes worth it versus when the distress is minimal or people have habituated to it, what questions to ask yourself about potential losses versus benefits, and what small in-between steps you can take to express that part of yourself if full transition doesn't make sense for you right now.
