So, being trans is when a person doesn’t feel like the gender they’re told they are from a young age. There are infinite gender identities and presentations which are outside the gender binary of man and women. But there’s a feeling or mental state when we can’t live as the gender we are. It’s called “Gender dysphoria” which a feeling of psychological distress. When this is the case, trans people can “transition” or make changes to be more in line with the gender they feel to feel “gender euphoria”. Read more in some of the links we’ll give later. You can find more info here or hear more about what “gender euphoria" feels like by watching this
There are a bunch of ways to transition, for example
- social affirmation (e.g. changing one’s name and pronouns),
- legal affirmation (e.g. changing gender markers on one’s government-issued documents),
- medical affirmation (e.g. gender-affirming hormones, and/or surgical affirmation).
And every trans person is different. It’s important for allies to know that we are no more or less trans because we take hormones or get surgery. And also, when you meet a trans person, please respect their privacy and don’t ask them about their transition.
But how does this link to mental health? The research is clear, transitioning leads to better
- Attitude to life
- Ability to cope with stress
- Optimism for the future
- Self-image
- Job satisfaction
For example, I’m non-binary and have socially transitioned in a lot of ways; I dress how I feel, I use they/them pronouns. Doing these things has been hard and annoying in different ways (it can be so awkward correcting people, especially my mum!) but overall I feel more confident, I feel less distress looking in the mirror and I’m no longer actively trying to fit other people’s ideas of how I should be.
And while I feel like this has improved my mental health a lot, there are other ways I want change myself to be my authentic, true self. For example, my voice gives me so much dysphoria and I want it to be lower. And for those reading at home, it’s totally ok for our own transition goals to change and look different to other people’s.
But my story is going to be different to every other trans person out there! And each of these aspects have their own challenges. For me, having people I can talk to about each aspect and get advice or support or problem solve has been so amazing.
The important thing for allies and carers to remember is that supporting people to transition will improve their mental health!
