The medical reason we crossdress

[Maxi]

We are all Serotonin junkies.

Here is part of an article I found explaining why we crossdress.

Crossdressers comprise about 15% of the male population and are normal, healthy, heterosexual men with one little tweak. Their brains are hard-wired so that when they wear women's clothing they produce Serotonin and other neurotransmitters. This gives them a sensation of well-being, pleasure, sexual-gratification and self-identity. Since it affects the reward center of their brains they often feel a NEED to crossdress.

I think we can all relate to this. I wonder if my doctor would write me a prescription to dress?

[deebra]

Some or even more would question 15% as high, like very high, if this number is true why don't we see more cd's in public, why isn't it more accepted. With this high a number they all can't be in the closet.

[Jorja]

Certain aminos cause you to have better feeling of well being. Serotonin is a chemical that helps maintain a "happy feeling," and seems to help keep our moods under control by helping with sleep, calming anxiety, and relieving depression. It is manufactured in your body using the amino acid tryptophan.

Using your theory, every male that eats turkey for Thanksgiving dinner in the USA should become a crossdresser for at least 1 day because turkey and many other foods contain high levels of tryptophan which in turn makes Serotonin.

[Cynthia Anne]

I can beleive the 15%! It does make you wonder why we don't see more! Perhaps there are so many that 'pass' so well we can't tell! But I imagine it's because there are so many in the closit and so many that 'underdress' that we don't know about!!

[TGMarla]

Yeah, that must be it. And like some people need government-provided medical marijuana, I need a subsidy to buy dresses and high heels. I'll be waiting for my check in the mail!

[Anne2345]

Yeah, that must be it. And like some people need government-provided medical marijuana, I need a subsidy to buy dresses and high heels. I'll be waiting for my check in the mail!

Brilliant!!! Or a clothing and makeup allowance through our health care provider. The cost of engaging in preventative measures to maintain well-being and health is usually much lower than the costs down the road if such measures are not taken. So how can health care providers NOT afford to hook us up with an allowance?

[daviolin]

Very interesting Maxi. I would like to read the intier articial. I know when I get dressed, I feel like I'm in seventh heaven. Its exhilerating to me. My wife just doesen't understand me. Oh well, what are you going to do. Daviolin

[Kimberly Long]

All my life I have wondered why. Now I know

[kimdl93]

that could well account for the positive feelings many of us report. One might further speculate on why wearing women's clothing would elicit this response in the brain. Its not the clothes themselves, but perhaps the ability to feel as though one's brain and appearance are in closer synchrony.

[Jennifer in CO]

we're all out there...just some are in stealth mode....I dress in fem clothes everyday and still "pass" as a male. I just wear "discrete" female clothes while doing it...

Jenn

[Inna]

Seratonin or dopamine are released as a reaction to stimuli and create sensation of pleasure, however they them selves are not responsible for the act of crossdressing or in fact they merely are the result. In fact such neurotransmitters are released when you eat ice cream, or just do what ever makes you happy so to speak.

I think it is safe to quote that transgender tendencies are set in the first stages of the embryo development as the result of misalignment of hormonal function of mothers immune system.

[Barbra P]

While I think 15% sounds high, based on what gets posted here it may not be. I’ve only been a member since early May but what I see is that the majority of members reside in the closet. I suspect that the overwhelming majority of the CD population won’t even admit anonymously online that they are CD’ers. I’ve noticed that the number of guests always seems to outnumber the number of members. Sometimes the number of members is a very small percentage of the people viewing the forum. Forum members represent only a small percentage of the CD population, only a tiny fraction of 1%, and while some of the members venture out into public areas, that is not indicative of the overall CD population.

Jorja, your premise is faulty. Serotonin is created by the cross dressing, the cross dressing is the causal and Serotonin is the effect. Likewise Turkey is the causal and Tryptophan/Serotonin is the effect. Many things cause the body to produce Serotonin and if Serotonin in turn caused cross dressing then the entire male population would be cross dressers.

Looked at another way, there are 312,000,000 people in the U.S., 15% would be 46,800,000. For convenience let’s assume half, or 50% are males and that comes to 23,400,000. But a lot of those males are children, the 2010 census says that there are a little over 74 million children (under the age of 18) so that makes the adult population about 80% and 80% of 23.4 million is 18.7 million.

Now it gets a bit tricky. Some members here dress full time but I suspect that the majority of CD’s are so deeply in the closet that they dress rather infrequently and may only be able to dress a few hours a month, but on average how many hours a month is that? I try to dress one day a week and most weeks I get in about 6 or 7 hours, so taking 7 hours a week that works out to 30 hours a month. I don’t think the average CD gets to dress for 30 hours a month, I’d be surprised if the average CD gets in 15 hours, but let’s go with 15. Using 15 hours dressed a month that means that at any given time across the U.S. there are roughly 385,000 males dressed as females. That’s one-tenth of one-percent of the population, and many of those are so adept that you would pass them on the mall and not even think about whether or not they were a MTF CD.

[Mary Morgan]

Left-handedness is associated with 13% of the population and I am a lefty as well, and no is isn't accepted although it is acceptable. As Eric Burdon would say, "It's a tough world to get a break in..."

[NicoleScott]

Seratonin or dopamine are released as a reaction to stimuli and create sensation of pleasure, however they them selves are not responsible for the act of crossdressing or in fact they merely are the result.

Agree. Two guys dress up as woman on Halloween, both for the first time wearing anything feminine. For one, when it's over, it's over. For the other, he likes it, a lot, and wants to do it again and again. Why the difference in the effect? I think the jury is still out on the cause.

I could be pursuaded believe the 15% number, but I've always thought it was 5%-10%, having nothing concrete to back that up. I think there are a lot of guys who really would like to dress up, but never in a million years actually do it. And there are surely a lot of guys who have dressed to some degree but would never admit it, and even try to deny and suppress the desire. I used to chat a lot in AOL crossdresser chat rooms. There are a lot of lurkers and cd admirers out there, and only the anonimity of the internet makes them feel safe enough to pursue their secret desire. They, like me and other crossdressers, like to talk to others to help us see what makes us tick. There must be a large number of secret cd's, and we'll never get a handle on how many.

If a guy has crossdressing desires but for one reason or another never has crossdressed, is he a crossdresser?
If a guy has no desire to crossdress but does it once for a Halloween party, is he a crossdresser?
My way of thinking is, respectively, YES and NO. You could argue No and YES.

[VioletJourney]

1. The "reward" center of the brain produces dopamine, not serotonin.
2. That is just the biological basis for why crossdressing makes us feel good, but not necessarily why we do it. As a behaviorist, I would say that we're somehow conditioned to feel good (by producing neurotransmitters) with women's clothing, not "hard-wired" as you suggested.

We are all Serotonin junkies.

Only in the sense that we're all blood junkies... serotonin is just one of those chemicals that regulates us.

[2B Natasha]

We are all Serotonin junkies.

Here is part of an article I found explaining why we crossdress.

Crossdressers comprise about 15% of the male population and are normal, healthy, heterosexual men with one little tweak. Their brains are hard-wired so that when they wear women's clothing they produce Serotonin and other neurotransmitters. This gives them a sensation of well-being, pleasure, sexual-gratification and self-identity. Since it affects the reward center of their brains they often feel a NEED to crossdress.

I think we can all relate to this. I wonder if my doctor would write me a prescription to dress?

The issue I have with all of this is there is mo mention of where this article was found. Who wrote it. When was it published. What was it published in etc etc etc.

[Paula_56]

Wear a Liz Clairborn skirt, a pair of Jimmy Choo, 3" heels with pantyhose and hair and makeup to match and call me in the morning.

[ReineD]

Crossdressers comprise about 15% of the male population

This seems like a very high ratio. Can you post a link to the article? I'd like to check their sources.

I’ve noticed that the number of guests always seems to outnumber the number of members. Sometimes the number of members is a very small percentage of the people viewing the forum.

I'm sure that among the lurkers, there are family members or partners. Come to think of it, these would be the people likely to be unwilling to join, since this site predominately is comprised of members of the TG community. They could even be the wives of forum members.

All I'm saying is that since we don't know who is lurking, none of us can say whether they are mostly CDers or their wives who are trying to figure it all out.

[Karren H]

Why even try to make up reason we crossdress? Even if your reason was valid.... Would it change anything going forward? I think not... Unless you have some deep seeded need to know... Its a waste of my time trying to find out!! Imho.... Ohh and I'm still working on my Alien abduction theory.... Haven't figured out who got abducted yet but I have these urges to wear pink sombreros and eat pico de gallo!!

[ReineD]

Why even try to make up reason we crossdress? Even if your reason was valid.... Would it change anything going forward?

I took it that the OP wasn't so much coming up with a reason to crossdress, but was rather attempting to explain why it escalates the way it does, or even why so many of the members here experience such a "high" when they do dress.

[Natalee]

I'd be more inclined to say, it's not a matter to putting on simple "cloth" which causes the effect of the brain's reward center. More the act of doing something deemed socially unaccepted; or rebellious. I've always got-off on doing what others said I couldn't in my teens.

[Karren H]

I took it that the OP wasn't so much coming up with a reason to crossdress, but was rather attempting to explain why it escalates the way it does, or even why so many of the members here experience such a "high" when they do dress.

I guess I misunderstood "Medical Reason we crossdress"... Implying that we crossdress because we like to get high.... Guess "reason" threw me off...

[Lorileah]

Guess that explains why I have a need for Ambien.

[Kittyagain]

I wonder if someone has done a simple blood pressure study covering before and during dressing?

Kitty

[Gillian Gigs]

There are some interesting thoughts here. It has been found that individuals that suffer from depression have low levels of serotonin. Doctors give meds to increase, serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine in the individual who is depressed. Some say that serotonin is the happiness hormone, well if crossdressing increases my serotonin, then good. Something also to consider, endorphins, the feel good naturally produced opaite. Endorphins are released into the blood stream through several means. Some of these are; exercise, excitement, pain, love, orgasm,etc. If you love to dress, get excited when dressed, have an orgasm when dressed, then endorphins are released into your body. I do not know if my wearing lingerie produces serotonin, but it makes me feel happy, and I could use all of the happiness that I can get!
As to whether 15% of the male population has a taste for wearing womens clothes, all I know is, if men get a sensation of well-being, pleasure, and sexual-gratification from womens clothing, then that percentage could well be true.