“Every Time I Get Gendered Male, I Feel a Pain in My Chest”: Understanding the Social Context for Gender Dysphoria

The present study aimed to expand current understandings of gender dysphoria by explicating the social context in which it is experienced and by centering the analysis on the lived experience of trans individuals. Data were collected online from a nonclinical sample composed of 610 transgender participants. Participants answered 2 open-ended prompts to describe their gender dysphoria as experienced in a social context. Thematic analysis was used to code the data and determine main themes. Four socially salient themes emerged regarding gender dysphoria: 1) External Triggers; 2) Internal Processing; 3) Interruption of Social Functioning; and 4) Moderated by Transition. When describing their experiences, participants identified external triggers for dysphoria that were social in nature as well as internal processes that occurred in response to those triggers. Often this led to an interruption of social functioning. For some of our participants, gender dysphoria was moderated by transition. Results of the present study suggest that trans individuals’ experience of gender dysphoria is greatly impacted by social context. Discussion focuses on the way the present findings may be best understood in relation to the literature on minority stress. Consideration of gender dysphoria as a proximal stressor may help to conceptually disaggregate gender dysphoria from psychological stress in the way we frame mental health considerations for trans individuals.