In the belief that
transsexualism is not mental illness, we ask that an
express statement of that exact sentiment, no more, no less, is to be included in the forthcoming DSM-5 manual from the APA (American Psychiatrists Association). We acknowledge that certain conditions which are not mental disorders, mental illnesses, psychopathologies or abnormalities may be of clinical interest to psychiatrists; in this regard (only) transsexualism is similar to bereavement.
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FAQWe the undersigned,
BELIEVE THAT TRANSSEXUALISM AND SIMILAR CONDITIONS
ARE NOT MENTAL ILLNESS, and therefore we call for decisive action: We recommend that to the diagnosis/criteria pages of provisional DSM-5 diagnostic categories:
302.85--"Gender Incongruence (in Adolescents or Adults)" and
302.6 --"Gender Incongruence (in Children)"
the statement shown below shall be added
:
" Gender incongruence, regardless of its etiology or how it is experienced by any person, shall in no way be considered a psychopathology, mental illness or mental disorder. Gender incongruence may, however, be the focus of significant clinical interest and attention."
We further request that the APA Board of Trustees endorse the above within an official policy statement, at least on an interim basis pending DSM-5 publication.
We ask this in order to explicitly and unambiguously call for medical treatment of transpeople to be on a basis of an overarching aim of promoting health though assessment and treatment on a somatic basis. We believe that somatic treatments of gender incongruent people, with informed consent, have an excellent track record of success and patient satisfaction whereas psychotherapeutic treatments (alone) do not.
In support of these requests we note that:-
1. Current and former gender variant persons, their families and friends, and health care providers worldwide increasingly and publicly call for the depathologization of transsexualism and gender variance as mental illnesses.
2. Recently, the APA Sexual and Gender Identity Workgroup " ... clearly indicated their rejection of the Gender Identity Disorder term because, in their view, [such pathologization] contributes to the stigmatization ...".
3. The presently proposed revisions to DSM-5 do not nearly go far enough in removing the stigma unjustly associated with gender variance.
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