"Gatekeepers", I've heard them called, often with a tinge of cynicism or a taste of animosity. If not, then they are often regarded as a mere formality to be tolerated until enough time has passed to receive a coveted letter. Held at arms length, enough is said to keep them happy and everything else is handled with friends, alone or even left unexplored.
Neither scenario is, in my humble opinion, healthy for those of us who have to undergo this journey. This journey of transition is treacherous and difficult for those who choose to navigate its waters, yet gender dysphoria is really a self diagnosed condition. Nobody can tell you that you are transgendered without you already knowing it on some level, but what you need to know is that it has a name, that you fit the description and that you are not alone.
I don't pretend to know the politics of psychiatry in the real world, but it seems to me that there is a definite opening for psychiatrists to play the role of an impartial guide. Equipping the journeyer with the knowledge of the possible paths that can be taken, they could also provide food for thought in not assuming that the journeyer knows about all different options or that the path that she is on is the path the she really wishes to be on. Challenging her, they may play devils advocate only to make her pause and reflect but never to impede and in doing so they are not gatekeepers, but mentors. They may provide guidance in highlighting the dangers and supply methods of weathering the inevitable storms and challenges, thus enabling the safety of the journeyer and impart tools that will be useful for the rest of her life.
This then, is my nirvana where everyone has a confidant rather than a combatant or even a neutral custodian. A scenario where real help is provided rather than fulfilling a bureaucratic role.
3 comments:
I couldn't agree more with your sentiments !! We can go to a psychiatrist and if we hide or distort our feelings and don't come out of our bunker then we will receive very little help. They are not mind readers, so the benefits we receive is up to us. Our road is life long and we don't know what the next corner will bring, so to prepare ourselves we need all the help we can get, then it is up to us what we do with that help.
I think the specialist that you are looking for in your example is surely a psychologist not a psychiatrist.They are very different! Psychiatrists look for mental illness, psychologists look at how people behave. Transsexual people do not have a mental illness and the medical system should not treat us as though we all do!
I am aware of the difference, although to get to the root of your conjecture, I'm not convinced that transsexuals do not have a mental illness. If we take the wikipedia definition of mental illness as " a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture" or the current legislation of where I live which defines mental illness as "A medical condition characterised by a significant disturbance of
thought, mood, perception or memory", then I contend that transsexualism does fall within the definition of "mental illness".
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