An attractive and well-dressed 22-yrs-old woman is arrested for prostitution, but on being booked at the jail, she is found to actually be a male. The patient tells the consulting physician that he is a female trapped in a male body and he has felt that way since he was a child. He has been taking female hormones and is attempting to find a surgeon who would remove his male genitals and create a vagina. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?
A. Homosexuality
B. Gender identity disorder
C. Transvestite fetishism
D. Delusional disorder
The
Answer is.
(B). Gender identity disorder
In
adolescents and young adults, gender identity disorder is characterized by
strong cross-gender identification, a persistent discomfort with one’s sex, and
clinically significant distress or impairment. Such patients usually trace
their conviction to early childhood, often live as the opposite sex, and seek
sex reassignment surgery and endocrine treatment. These patients feel a sense
of relief and appropriateness when they are wearing opposite-sex clothing. In
contrast, patients with transvestic fetishism are sexually aroused by this
behavior. Homosexuality is not a diagnosis in DSM-IV While some homosexuals
cross-dress to seek a same-sex partner, they do not feel that they belong to
the opposite sex, nor do they seek sex reassignment surgery.
