Are transgendered people mentally ill or delusional?
A. No. Despite the inclusion of Gender Identity Disorders in a catalog of mental illnesses, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) does not consider GID a mental illness (yet they refuse to remove it from the catalog, as they did “homosexuality” in 1973). According the the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illnesses (DSM-IV-TR), GID meets the criteria for “social non-conformity.” Nonetheless, a one-and-only exception to that definition is made, for no apparent reason, to justify the inclusion of GID in the list of Psychosexual Disorders. GID patients are not “delusional” either. Part of the reason for the Standards of Care followed by most doctors is to screen out the patient who presents with apparent GID but may, in fact, be delusional or psychotic. One hallmark is “persistence.” Psychotic episodes rarely last for extended periods of time. They are, by nature, “episodic,” with periods of normal behavior in between. A person who is truly transgendered will have had a per
