People with gender dysphoria feel a great strangeness. There is a discrepancy between the sex assigned to them (usually at birth) and the sex with which they identify or express themselves. This discrepancy is the fundamental characteristic of gender dysphoria. In fact, some people are uncomfortable with this discrepancy. The sex experienced may include alternative gender identities in addition to binary stereotypes.
Consequently, discomfort is not limited to the simple desire to be of the other sex. It may include the desire to be of an alternative sex. This happens whenever it is different from the sex assigned to the person. Concern or desire for sex change can occur at any age after the first 2-3 years of childhood. It often interferes with daily activities.
In older children, the inability to acquire skills and relationships that are typical for their age with the same - sexual partners can lead to social isolation and cause discomfort.
Gender dysphoria manifests itself differently in different age groups . Prepubertal girls with gender dysphoria may express the desire to be a boy. They may claim to be boys or they may claim to be men when they grow up.
They prefer children's clothes and hairstyle. Because of their style, they are also perceived by strangers as children and can ask to be called by the name of a child. They generally show intense negative reactions in relation to their parents' attempts to make them wear dresses or other clothes associated with the feminine. Some may refuse to go to school or social events where clothing is needed.
These girls may show remarkable identification with the other sex in drama, dreams and fantasies. They generally prefer contact sports, wrestling games. Thus, they prefer children as playmates.
Show little interest in toys, dolls or activities that are based on stereotypes. Occasionally, they refuse to urinate in a sitting position. Some girls may express a desire to have a penis, or claim that they have a penis, or that when they grow up, they will have one. They may also say they do not want to develop breasts or menstruate.
Prepubertal boys with gender dysphoria may express their desire to be a girl, claim to be a girl, or claim that when they grow up they will be women. Their preference is to wear girls' or women's clothes and they can improvise dresses with the materials they find.
These boys play the role of female figures (e.g., play "mothers"). They are often interested in female fantasies. They generally prefer activities, games and hobbies that are traditional female stereotypes (e.g., playing "home").
They also prefer to make female drawings and watch TV shows or videos of the characters the girls prefer. Dolls that fit the female stereotype are often their favorite toys and girls are their favorite joke companions.
These boys generally avoid the most competitive games. Some may pretend they don't have a penis and insist on sitting down to urinate. Less often, they may claim to find the penis or testicles unpleasant. They want to take them out or they want to have a vagina.
In adults with gender dysphoria , the discrepancy between sex and who have physical sexual characteristics is usually accompanied by a desire to get rid of their secondary or primary sexual characteristics of the other sex.
To varying degrees, adults with gender dysphoria may adopt the behavior, dress, and mannerisms of the sex they experience. They feel uncomfortable when they are considered by others or when society identifies them with the sex that marks their physical characteristics.
Some adults may have a strong desire to be of a different sex and be treated as such. They may have enough inner security to feel and respond according to the sex they experience without seeking medical treatment to alter their body characteristics.
These adults may find other ways to resolve the contradiction between the sex that is experienced/expressed and what is assigned to them by living partly in the desired role or by adopting a sexual role that is neither conventionally male nor female.
