Gender Identity Disorder (GID), also known as transsexualism, involves a person feeling extremely uncomfortable with their assigned sex and wishing to be a member of the opposite sex. Various approaches have attempted to explain GID, including psychoanalytic, trait-based, biological, humanistic, behavioral, cognitive, and the DSM-IV-TR definition which outlines criteria for diagnosis including a strong cross-gender identification from childhood and distress/impairment. Explanations for GID range from repressed psychosexual development to heritable biological traits to learned behaviors that could potentially be unlearned.

1. Gender Identity Disorder Gender Identity Disorder By Julie Harmon

2. Gender Identity Disorder Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is “a disorder in which a person persistently feels extremely uncomfortable about his or her assigned sex and strongly wishes to be a member of the opposite sex. Also known as transsexualism.” (Comer, 2007, p. 405)

3. Psychoanalytical Approach Freud believed that an individuals personality is affected by repressed sexual desires and therefore, an individual with GID may not have properly moved through the psychosexual stages of development.

5. Recognize, approve, acknowledge, allow, admit, believe.

6. Confusion

8. Biological Approach According to the Biological approach GID could be a heritable disorder or one in which a biological trait can be found.

9. Humanistic Approach According to the Humanistic approach GID can be viewed one of two ways. A person diagnosed with GID is either not present in the here and now and afraid of becoming true to their gendered body. A person diagnosed with GID is fully present and accepting of the person that they would like to become and therefore they are taking the appropriate steps to be fully engaged in their view of self-actualization.

10. Behavioral and Social Learning Behavior and social theorists believe that GID is a learned behavior that can later be un-learned.

11. Cognitive Approach Possible Selves Struggling with GID is a vision that an individual has that describes the person they wish to become.

13. C. The disturbance is not concurrent with a physical intersex condition.

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