Resisting Gender Dysphoria
The fourth and most important step is to think about times in which you were able to resist the gender dysphoria! Moments in which you were able to tell the gender dysphoria not today! Today, I will be euphoric!
For example, Que shared that when they are connected with friends or feel confident about their gender they can resist the distractor.
Other folks have described the actions they took to resist the gender dysphoria and how it made them feel:
“I began correcting people who used the wrong pronouns or my birth name… Standing up for myself and correcting pronouns felt liberating. I felt a sense of validation and self-respect, knowing that I was taking control of how others perceived and addressed me.” (Asian, nonbinary individual)
“I sang some songs with my girls… I felt alive for real.” (Asian American, queer individual)
“I went for a drive, I spoke positive affirmations and gymed… I felt really good, and I forgot about gender dysphoria.” (Black, trans man)
Think about times in which you were able to exert even a little bit of control over the gender dysphoria. For example, resistance can be as simple as carrying on with your day when the gender dysphoria wants to make you cry. Or it can be as powerful as still going on a date even though the gender dysphoria is trying to make you stay home.
Ask yourself:
What makes those times different?
Did you do anything special during those moments?
Were your surroundings different?