Earlier this week, I traveled an hour and a half down to Belpre, Ohio in order to receive a letter from a psychiatrist so I could continue on to the next step of my medical transition. When the appointment was over, I was dumbstruck by how pointless the trip had been. I had driven so far, just for a psychiatrist to nod her head and say, "I don't see why not - I'll email you the letter soon." It irritates me to no end that we continue to use old practices in this day and age that are preventing people from living healthily. The therapist I first spoke to at the office shook her head and confusion and agreed with me that mental health disorders are not caused by being transgender and a psychiatric evaluation seems pointless. So why do we use a psychiatrist's approval before treating patients for gender dysphoria? The process of receiving HRT hasn't been updated since earlier forms of the DSM labeled people like me as suffering from 'Gender Identity Disorder'. In those days, it was preferred for a psychiatrist to talk the patient out of their 'hysterical notions' of being a different gender than the one they were assigned.
Many cisgender friends of mine, as well as trans friends, believe that my opinion of this being an insulting and unnecessary practice is flat out wrong. I've had people tell me that it's a big decision and that a psychiatrist is needed for it. Why should a decision regarding my own mental and physical health solely rest on a third party who knows nothing of me nor the inner workings of my mind and soul? I didn't have to have the approval of a psychiatrist to receive medication for my crippling anxiety - why should I have it now to receive medication for my crippling dysphoria?
The answer may disgust you - transgender surgical and hormonal treatments are still considered cosmetic by society despite what legislation and medical documents now say. The solution to this issue is to change the world around us. It is imperative that we educate society and show them that we are people, we are not mentally ill due to our state of being, that we are valid in our identities. This is an era of transgender revolution and I am so glad that I am in the thick of it. I will fight for people like me with my last breath. One day I hope that someone like me can tell their doctor what they're experiencing and they can easily be prescribed HRT without a fuss, just like many other people receive anti-depressants and medication for anxiety. Dysphoria is the illness, gender is not the cause. Dysphoria will continue in the transgender community until society erases the idea that our bodies define our gender. I hope that I live to see that day.
In the meantime, I am continuing my journey to mental and physical well-being.
