Transgender Mental Illness or Biological Component [M]

[Brovo]

It's harmless, but some of it crosses the line into rather silly- which unfortunately DOES sometimes harm transgender folk, because people throw in their hat with the trans community and this can undermine the credibility of trans issues.

Like the transabled movement, which is less funny and more straight up terrifying. Or, the ones that really grind my gears, headmates: Making people think that the voices in their head are real.

From the standpoint of mental disabilities, there are actually some pretty scary, and really truly downright awful things that perpetuate in the hugboxes of the Internet. Movements which try to hijack the successes of the LGBT movement to try and validate their own, genuine delusions.

Unfortunately, it's not all just "silly." The gender tags, thankfully, are like, 99% silly: They're fine. Unfortunately it goes far beyond gender, though.

 

[Astaroth]

Like the transabled movement, which is less funny and more straight up terrifying. Or, the ones that really grind my gears, headmates: Making people think that the voices in their head are real.

From the standpoint of mental disabilities, there are actually some pretty scary, and really truly downright awful things that perpetuate in the hugboxes of the Internet. Movements which try to hijack the successes of the LGBT movement to try and validate their own, genuine delusions.

Unfortunately, it's not all just "silly." The gender tags, thankfully, are like, 99% silly: They're fine. Unfortunately it goes far beyond gender, though.

Oh yeah. There's some stuff out there that's definitely not harmless. But that's a whole different ball game than gender identity, like you said.

 

[Dervish]

Thanks, guys. I just saw this thread and found myself at an utter loss of direction. Way I see it, if someone tells me what they are, I'll respect it, I just hope nobody legitimately expects me to identify what they are on sight. It's still a bit much to take in, but you guys did about the best job explaining a very complicated thing to a guy fucked up on hydromorph while bleeding all over a hospital can hope to articulate and comprehend. <3

 

[☆Luna☆]

Thanks, guys. I just saw this thread and found myself at an utter loss of direction. Way I see it, if someone tells me what they are, I'll respect it, I just hope nobody legitimately expects me to identify what they are on sight. It's still a bit much to take in, but you guys did about the best job explaining a very complicated thing to a guy fucked up on hydromorph while bleeding all over a hospital can hope to articulate and comprehend. <3

Thank you. Hearing that made me smile.

Not sure how many people on Iwaku know this about me, but I'm transgender.

I don't really have much left to say since people already did an amazing job of explaining everything, but maybe it is worth it just to give @Foxx some company. Hope this doesn't get too emotional.

---

Personally speaking, I've had to deal with this problem in a way that a lot of transgenders don't have to. When I first entertained the idea that it might be fun to act like a girl, I had no idea that I'd find myself so engrossed with the idea. I was so ashamed of myself that I formed a split personality so that I didn't have to own up that these feelings were my own.

Unlike a majority of transgenders, I actually did have to ask myself if my feelings were the result of an unhealthy delusion or if they were genuinely held. And I had to do this all alone. I had no idea who I was. I didn't know if what I saw was reality. I felt so incredibly alone. I wanted to just go back to childhood when everything seemed so simple.But because I went through this, I learned something about myself, reality, and about the subject of mental illness.

An illness is an illness because it harms you. It is the reason we don't think of all the helpful digestive bacteria that helps us process food as an infection. Similarly, a mental illness necessitates adverse effect. There just isn't anything inherently harmful about taking female role models, emulating their behavior, and somewhat conforming to gender norms.

I probably could have skipped that scary part of my life if there had been someone to tell me that it was ok not to understand right away. If I had just been allowed to try things at my own pace, I could have avoided an actual mental illness. So that is why, I'm going to say the same thing back to Dervish, and anyone else confused about gender.

It's perfectly fine to not understand. People don't understand a lot of things. Understanding isn't even really the important thing. There isn't going to be a day where I suddenly know all there is to know about myself and the world around me. That day isn't going to come for anyone. The nature of reality always remains a mystery. I just want people to be able to be proud of who they are. I want them to live beautiful lives.

And so, I'm not going to worry about if what I have is a delusion. I can go deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole without coming any closer to the truth. If I learn that I was wrong about something, I have faith that I'll be able to change without regretting the past. I love myself for everything that I am, everything I was, and everything I will become.

 

[F0X]

Thank you. Hearing that made me smile.

Not sure how many people on Iwaku know this about me, but I'm transgender.

I don't really have much left to say since people already did an amazing job of explaining everything, but maybe it is worth it just to give @Foxx some company. Hope this doesn't get too emotional.

---

Personally speaking, I've had to deal with this problem in a way that a lot of transgenders don't have to. When I first entertained the idea that it might be fun to act like a girl, I had no idea that I'd find myself so engrossed with the idea. I was so ashamed of myself that I formed a split personality so that I didn't have to own up that these feelings were my own.

Unlike a majority of transgenders, I actually did have to ask myself if my feelings were the result of an unhealthy delusion or if they were genuinely held. And I had to do this all alone. I had no idea who I was. I didn't know if what I saw was reality. I felt so incredibly alone. I wanted to just go back to childhood when everything seemed so simple.But because I went through this, I learned something about myself, reality, and about the subject of mental illness.

An illness is an illness because it harms you. It is the reason we don't think of all the helpful digestive bacteria that helps us process food as an infection. Similarly, a mental illness necessitates adverse effect. There just isn't anything inherently harmful about taking female role models, emulating their behavior, and somewhat conforming to gender norms.

I probably could have skipped that scary part of my life if there had been someone to tell me that it was ok not to understand right away. If I had just been allowed to try things at my own pace, I could have avoided an actual mental illness. So that is why, I'm going to say the same thing back to Dervish, and anyone else confused about gender.

It's perfectly fine to not understand. People don't understand a lot of things. Understanding isn't even really the important thing. There isn't going to be a day where I suddenly know all there is to know about myself and the world around me. That day isn't going to come for anyone. The nature of reality always remains a mystery. I just want people to be able to be proud of who they are. I want them to live beautiful lives.

And so, I'm not going to worry about if what I have is a delusion. I can go deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole without coming any closer to the truth. If I learn that I was wrong about something, I have faith that I'll be able to change without regretting the past. I love myself for everything that I am, everything I was, and everything I will become.

Thanks for sharing! You tagged the wrong fox, but that's okay! We are all here for you and I'm glad you've come to love who are are! <3

 

[☆Luna☆]

Thanks for sharing! You tagged the wrong fox, but that's okay! We are all here for you and I'm glad you've come to love who are are! <3

Lol, there are too many Foxes. I'm glad that it got to you all the same. Hope other fox doesn't mind the random include.

 

[God]

I guess as a reasonable person and someone who has gone to college for psychology, I can say that the notion of transgender and most things associated with it, much like the general study of mental health and the brain itself (Note: Don't read into that. I'm not saying it's a mental illness, nor do I believe it is), is still really in its infancy stage, especially in the grand scheme of things. The science simply isn't out on whether or not it's caused by A B or C, nor what the effects are to your body in various scenarios. In regards to what I just mentioned, it's mostly speculation at this point. I'm confident the medical community will continue to unlock the answers we seek.

A number of people display hate due to sheer ignorance, which is a byproduct of being uneducated and that's why, for example, we see these political bills surface that make you want to break your computer monitor using your forehead. That said, most people are capable of treating another human being with decency and respect (including but not limited to: Person A wants to be called pronoun B, address them as pronoun B. I understand the immense difficulty of this, but I have faith in you!).

Others have also mentioned a rather simple concept that can be applied here if all else fails: It's none of your fucking business.

 

[Brovo]

Fun fact: @☆Luna☆ is actually the first transgendered person I can recall meeting. It took me a while to get used to proper he/she pronouns. I was also around when she popped out of the proverbial closet online as it were, but had already figured it out by then.

She is also one of the most respectable and compassionate people I've met in my lifetime, with what appears to be an everlasting patience and penchant for explaining her identity, over, and over, and over, and over, and over again.

I have a great deal of respect for her, and it's likely because of her that I started out with and maintained a rather strongly positive opinion of transgendered people in general.

I don't often complement people publicly, so take that to mean whatever you wish.

 

[Dervish]

Thank you. Hearing that made me smile.

Not sure how many people on Iwaku know this about me, but I'm transgender.

I don't really have much left to say since people already did an amazing job of explaining everything, but maybe it is worth it just to give @Foxx some company. Hope this doesn't get too emotional.

---

Personally speaking, I've had to deal with this problem in a way that a lot of transgenders don't have to. When I first entertained the idea that it might be fun to act like a girl, I had no idea that I'd find myself so engrossed with the idea. I was so ashamed of myself that I formed a split personality so that I didn't have to own up that these feelings were my own.

Unlike a majority of transgenders, I actually did have to ask myself if my feelings were the result of an unhealthy delusion or if they were genuinely held. And I had to do this all alone. I had no idea who I was. I didn't know if what I saw was reality. I felt so incredibly alone. I wanted to just go back to childhood when everything seemed so simple.But because I went through this, I learned something about myself, reality, and about the subject of mental illness.

An illness is an illness because it harms you. It is the reason we don't think of all the helpful digestive bacteria that helps us process food as an infection. Similarly, a mental illness necessitates adverse effect. There just isn't anything inherently harmful about taking female role models, emulating their behavior, and somewhat conforming to gender norms.

I probably could have skipped that scary part of my life if there had been someone to tell me that it was ok not to understand right away. If I had just been allowed to try things at my own pace, I could have avoided an actual mental illness. So that is why, I'm going to say the same thing back to Dervish, and anyone else confused about gender.

It's perfectly fine to not understand. People don't understand a lot of things. Understanding isn't even really the important thing. There isn't going to be a day where I suddenly know all there is to know about myself and the world around me. That day isn't going to come for anyone. The nature of reality always remains a mystery. I just want people to be able to be proud of who they are. I want them to live beautiful lives.

And so, I'm not going to worry about if what I have is a delusion. I can go deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole without coming any closer to the truth. If I learn that I was wrong about something, I have faith that I'll be able to change without regretting the past. I love myself for everything that I am, everything I was, and everything I will become.

Glad I could make you smile! I recall how big of a thing it was for you to admit being transgender outloud to our online community, and honestly it's not hard to see that as terrifying. I just hope that you've been treated right, Luna, and at least have us as peers you can believe in. You're an awesome chick, I'm happy to have met you!

And no, that's not the opiods talking, although holy hell, they are super necessary in keeping me feeling remotely okay physically because there's a lot of staples holding my guts together at the moment.

 

[Sir Salty]

I guess as a reasonable person and someone who has gone to college for psychology, I can say that the notion of transgender and most things associated with it, much like the general study of mental health and the brain itself (Note: Don't read into that. I'm not saying it's a mental illness, nor do I believe it is), is still really in its infancy stage, especially in the grand scheme of things. The science simply isn't out on whether or not it's caused by A B or C, nor what the effects are to your body in various scenarios. In regards to what I just mentioned, it's mostly speculation at this point. I'm confident the medical community will continue to unlock the answers we seek.

A number of people display hate due to sheer ignorance, which is a byproduct of being uneducated and that's why, for example, we see these political bills surface that make you want to break your computer monitor using your forehead. That said, most people are capable of treating another human being with decency and respect (including but not limited to: Person A wants to be called pronoun B, address them as pronoun B. I understand the immense difficulty of this, but I have faith in you!).

Others have also mentioned a rather simple concept that can be applied here if all else fails: It's none of your fucking business.

I always tell people when it comes to any field of "science" and in a way psychology is the science of human behavior. That Science is always evolving and is always something new to learn about it.

But I am also a firm believer we should ask these questions, not assume the answers.

 

[Foxx]

Lol, there are too many Foxes. I'm glad that it got to you all the same. Hope other fox doesn't mind the random include.

Woah was very confused as to what I had been tagged into then XD Loving some of the support in this thread ^_^ Anyway, that is all - just dropped by to say I do not mind the random include. And as far as this subject goes (just to keep my post on-topic), I believe @Razilin put it most eloquently.

as long as you don't shit on my lawn and drop french fries in my car, I'm cool with you.

 

[Razilin]

Woah was very confused as to what I had been tagged into then XD Loving some of the support in this thread ^_^ Anyway, that is all - just dropped by to say I do not mind the random include. And as far as this subject goes (just to keep my post on-topic), I believe @Razilin put it most eloquently.

All ya'll are STILL on my goddamn lawn, yo

 

[Hellis]

All ya'll are STILL on my goddamn lawn, yo

I took a dump in your rosebushes. Sorry bud.