Is being a transsexual a mental disorder?

By Gardy Chacha

For the past few weeks, the media has been awash with the story of Audrey Mbugua – formerly Andrew Mbugua – who claims to be a woman despite being born a man.

Meeting Audrey for the first time, one can easily fall in love with her beauty and feministic charm.

Audrey is a transgender person (transformed from a male to a female).

The big question then is; how does a man feel female intrinsically despite having genitalia and a body? What’s the biology behind it?

“The physical body of a human being is detached from the psychological realm of a person,” says Catherine Mbau, a psychologist at Arise Counselling Centre.

“There are possibilities that a person could be male or female but feel different on the inside. What appeals to them and what they feel connected to is different from what their outward look says about them,” she explains why Audrey says she feels “trapped in a body that is not mine”.

As part of their transition process, transgender individuals may choose to use hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery (SRS) to change their bodies to conform to their true gender.

Dr Richard Muraga of Family Health Options says transsexuality is a difficult concept to understand since hormonal levels control bodies of males and females.

“A person who has XX chromosomes is genetically considered female, while a person with XY chromosomes is male,” he says. “However, through mutations or genetic activity, there are people who have XXY, XYY, and other variations of chromosomes. These genetic differences may or may not be visibly apparent.”

Is being a transsexual a mental disorder?

Gender Identity Disorder is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-4th Edition (DSM-IV), a guide used by mental health professionals to diagnose psychological conditions.

However, a paper published in 2009 titled Understanding Transgender by the United States’ National Center for Transgender Equality explains that transgender identity is not a mental illness that can be cured with treatment.

Rather, transgender people experience a persistent and authentic confusion between their assigned sex and their understanding of who they are.

Dr Muraga says being transgender is a situation that is not normal.

Since in medicine anything away from ‘normal’ deserves to be looked at, it can – in that sense – be approached as a medical problem that needs treatment.

Have you ever been caught in this catch 22 situation?

Before doing anything irrational, the doctor’s advice is for you to seek medical help.