What is Severe vs Mild Form of Dysphoria?
Dysphoria severity matters—but it's not what you think. Dr. Z breaks down how to assess whether your dysphoria is severe or mild, and why this distinction shifts constantly.
Here's the reality: dysphoria is a beast that doesn't care about your plans. It strikes during board meetings, intimate moments with your partner, time with your kids—whenever it wants. Frequency and duration vary wildly. Some experience it daily and constantly. Others experience infrequent episodes. And it SHIFTS—you can go from mild to severe overnight, which is why assessing severity is so complex.
Severe dysphoria? You literally cannot get out of bed. You cannot look in mirrors. You cannot function. Or you're pushing through work but dysphoria consumes 70% of your day. Mild dysphoria? You still feel it—no question—but your coping strategies work. You can quiet it down enough to function, even if it's just putting a band-aid on the problem.
Watch to understand why severity doesn't negate your transgender identity, how Dr. Z assesses dysphoria levels clinically, and why dysphoria operates on its own agenda separate from yours.
