What Causes Gender Dysphoria?
Little is known about the causes. One theory is that changes in the brain before birth cause certain parts of it to develop the opposite pattern to their sex. Significant proportions of male transsexuals have abnormally low levels of HY antigen. HY assists in the masculinizing effect of the Y chromosome in men. Work done in the Netherlands also suggests that the problem arises in the hypothalamus in the brain. This is involved in the early development of sexual differences within the brain, and controls the production of sex hormones throughout life. Others believe that experiences, especially in early childhood, affect the outward expressions of gender behavior. People learn early on in life how to behave appropriately for their gender, and society places great store by this. People who don’t conform may be reprimanded and even shunned. The problems arise, therefore, from society’s attitude rather than in the person. The fact that psychiatry labels people as having a ‘disorder’ becaus
