Understanding Gender Dysphoria’s Influence
The second step with externalization is to map the ways the gender dysphoria is trying to control or influence you.
To do this, you can look at its impact on your social interactions, physical well-being, and mental state.
Social Impacts: This could involve how the gender dysphoria affects your relationships, interactions with others, or feelings of belonging.
Physical Impacts: This might include bodily sensations, discomfort, or changes in how you experience your physical self.
Mental Impacts: This refers to the thoughts, feelings, or beliefs that the gender dysphoria may instill in you, such as self-doubt, anxiety, or negative self-perception.
For example, Que in the video described how the distractor {the name of their gender dysphoria} impacts them socially by telling them they will be misgendered and that they should just stay home. Physically, it can cause sharp pains when they see their reflection in the mirror. Mentally, the distractor tells them they will never pass.
Take a moment now to think about ways the gender dysphoria tries to control you.
Does it keep you from going out with friends or dating (socially)?
Does it make you tired and exhausted (physically)?
Does it make you sad or anxious (mentally)?
Think about the various ways the gender dysphoria tries to take your joy and reflect on those in the activity.
“I wrote out some of the really mean things that my dysphoria produces, that I never would have said out loud on my own. I try really hard to not be verbally mean to myself so I don’t actually say the mean things to myself, and so having something else say them let me write them down and process them.” (white, trans man)
