Gender Dysphoria Triggers

[Star01]

I'm dadt and don't know where I fall in with the definitions but I know what I think and feel when something catches my eye and triggers the desire to dig into my girly clothes or take a long bath and shave all over. Recent examples, first one is that many years ago while I was still working my wife used to work part time jobs and/or create small home businesses. She had stopped doing that for many years and recently decided to start buying and selling again. Mostly china pieces, jewelry, anything she can clean up and flip that has some profit margin. Anyways, I have done digital photography and graphics for many years so I was tasked with resizing and editing her first batch of photos. Her recent jewelry purchase was about the equivalent of a half a five gallon bucket so there were a lot of photos. Give a CD a few hundred photos of bracelets, necklaces, earrings to stare at for a couple hours, what could possibly go wrong?

Another recent incident was that I purchased a new cell phone a couple months ago and had to go to the kiosk at one of the department stores to flip my account over to the new phone. We had to go past the ladies department and right on the end of the isle was the perfect dress that I absolutely knew would have been perfect for me after only one glance. As a dadt I am limited in how I can react when those triggers hit me between the eyes so it can be kind of a frustrating experience but I've been a CD for over 60 years since my first introduction to crossdressing as if the first effects of puberty weren't enough for me to unpack so I'm used to dealing with the frustration which has been stronger than ever this past few months.

Without getting into definitions or debating degrees of dysphoria all I can say is that it's a very real thing and it can happen regardless of which rung of the crossdressing ladder we are at.

[Stephanie47]

I went to the discussion on the link provided by Aunt Kelly (#14). Based upon the article/definition I do not have gender dysphoria. Nothing applies when going through the lists outlined for a child or an adult. It arrives at the conclusion I am a gender noncomformist engaging in general gender expansiveness and gender creativity because I like to wear women's clothing "occasionally." Wherever I fall on the spectrum, I are not suffering from a mental disorder. That's nice to know. Now tell that to everyone else I know that I am not a whacko or sicko.

What the brief analysis does not answer is the big question; "Why do I do what I do?" Is it hormonal? Is it nurturing or lack thereof? What is it? It is not logical my mind as an early teenager and then later as an adult was driven to express itself in a manner which invited all the turmoil society can throw at nonconformity.

I have to add, as I have expressed many times on this forum, a counselor I see for issues related to combat induced PTSD, is of the opinion that every man and woman has some dna of the opposite sex. In some, it is more than others. The question still arises is what triggers me to act in a manner that is contrary to my birth sex. I do not think what I do have anything to do with gender expansiveness or gender creativity. One underlying thought expressed on this forum is seeking to avoid stress. Some people self medicate with drugs and alcohol when confronted with stress. Some decide to find a bridge to jump off. I find escaping to those thing I believe are a positive of being a woman. Yes, I have found emulating a domesticated woman taking care of the home to be a stress reliever. Maybe that was imprinted by watching June Cleaver on "Leave It to Beaver." Why would I seek out stressful situations when "identifying" as a woman? It seems I would seek out what I consider to be pretty dresses, heels and hosiery, etc. I've yet to read on this forum anybody yearning to be a woman living a life under adverse circumstances.

[Star01]

I went to the discussion on the link provided by Aunt Kelly (#14). Based upon the article/definition I do not have gender dysphoria. Nothing applies when going through the lists outlined for a child or an adult. It arrives at the conclusion I am a gender noncomformist engaging in general gender expansiveness and gender creativity because I like to wear women's clothing "occasionally." Wherever I fall on the spectrum, I are not suffering from a mental disorder. That's nice to know. Now tell that to everyone else I know that I am not a whacko or sicko.

What the brief analysis does not answer is the big question; "Why do I do what I do?" Is it hormonal? Is it nurturing or lack thereof? What is it? It is not logical my mind as an early teenager and then later as an adult was driven to express itself in a manner which invited all the turmoil society can throw at nonconformity.

Excellent reply that echoes my thoughts. Labels aside, where am I on the various levels of dysphoria or is it a mild case of nonconformity and will it increase or decrease in the coming months? Why do we do this and how come it sought me out as I certainly wasn't looking for something that would put me in this awkward place that I reside.

[Aunt Kelly]

Wait- are you saying a person cannot wish to be female and experience gender dysphoria?

Not exactly. I am saying that people who experience gender dysphoria _already_ identify as women. That is _why_ we have the dysphoria. It's a semantically subtle difference, one easy to miss, but an important one to grasp in order to understand the difference between gender identity and gender expression.

[Nikki.]

I experience gender dysphoria and I don’t identify as a woman. I assume trans men experience gender dysphoria and some of them probably don’t identify as women. WPATH SOC version 7 cites observations that some cd’s and drag folks experience GD:

Other clinical observations (not yet firmly supported by systematic study) support the likelihood of a higher prevalence of gender dysphoria: (i) Previously unrecognized gender dysphoria is occasionally diagnosed when patients are seen with anxiety, depression, conduct disorder, substance abuse, dissociative identity disorders, borderline personality disorder, sexual disorders, and disorders of sex development (Cole, O’Boyle, Emory, & Meyer III, %%?). (ii) Some crossdressers, drag queens/ kings or female/male impersonators, and gay and lesbian individuals may be experiencing gender dysphoria (Bullough & Bullough, %%').