Gender dysphoria

Gender dysphoria refers to negative feelings arising from some aspect of gender experience, possibly including but not limited to:

• An assigned gender different from one's gender identity
• Body dysphoria, where one’s sexual characteristics seem wrong
• Other’s perceptions of one’s gender
• Social treatment related to perceived or assigned gender

The term gender dysphoria can be used diagnostically, referring to persistent and clinically significant discomfort with an assigned gender, or to refer to individual instances of gender dysphoria, as in, “Calling someone by the wrong pronouns can evoke gender dysphoria.”

Healthcare professionals typically reference either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in order to confirm a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.