Gender & your mental wellbeing
You deserve to be heard on your own terms. You might be exploring your gender, looking for support or supporting someone else. You do not need to prove an identity to read, ask a question or seek help with your wellbeing.
Your identity and your mental health are different things.
Being transgender or gender diverse is not a psychiatric diagnosis. WHO moved gender incongruence outside the mental-disorders chapter in ICD-11.
A person may want support with distress, relationships or the effects of rejection and discrimination. These concerns deserve care without treating an identity as the problem.
Based on World Health Organization · American Psychiatric Association
Your support can follow your own priorities.
- Your words
How you describe your own experience
- Your wellbeing
What you want support with
- Your setting
Relationships and everyday access
- Your options
Choices that suit your goals
Support can follow your priorities without deciding your identity.
Gender diversity is not a mental illness. You may want support with wellbeing, relationships, discrimination, distress or access to care. Not everyone has the same concerns or wants the same pathway.
Your goals
What would you like someone to understand or help with?
Respectful care
Ask about relevant experience and your communication preferences.
Access and privacy
Check local arrangements and information-sharing limits.
Based on WHO
Choose the topic that matters to you.
Choose a term you want to understand, or go directly to support for your own goals.
Understanding the term gender dysphoria.
In DSM-5-TR, gender dysphoria refers to clinically significant distress or impairment associated with a difference between experienced gender and assigned sex. It is not another name for being transgender, and not every transgender or gender-diverse person experiences it.
ICD-11 uses gender incongruence in a chapter about sexual health rather than mental disorders. These classification terms have different purposes; neither is an online identity test. You can seek support for distress before knowing which term applies. The conversation should consider your own experience and goals, rather than a stereotype about clothes, interests or how a person should look. This adult information page does not set out youth medical eligibility or treatment protocols.
DSM gender dysphoria concerns clinically significant distress or impairment, rather than transgender identity itself. WHO’s ICD-11 uses a different framework and places gender incongruence outside the mental-disorders chapter. These terms should not be treated as interchangeable identity tests. Ask a relevant professional what a term means in your care context.
Based on World Health Organization · American Psychiatric Association
Start with what you would like support with.
These are wellbeing questions, not symptoms of a gender identity or a test of whether you are trans.
Exploration
Having room to explore without a predetermined answer.
Being heard
Being heard in relationships or everyday settings.
Everyday support
Support with distress or other mental health concerns.
Your goals
Understanding care options without pressure to take a particular step.
Based on World Health Organization · American Psychiatric Association
A support conversation does not determine your identity.
You can tell a professional the question you want help with and the language you prefer. Support should allow exploration without prescribing an identity outcome.
If you are seeking a particular healthcare service, ask what its assessment is for and which choices it offers. Medical, psychological and social support are not one compulsory sequence, and not everyone wants the same forms of care.
Based on World Health Organization · American Psychiatric Association
- 1Your words
Tell the professional how you would like to be addressed.
- 2Your priority
Name the wellbeing question or support you want.
- 3Your choices
Ask what the service offers, and how it follows your goals.
Support can follow your own priorities.
Explore the options and ask what fits your circumstances and needs.
Based on World Health Organization · American Psychiatric Association
Ask what each care option is intended to do.
Psychological, social and medical support have different purposes and may or may not be relevant to your goals. Availability and legal or healthcare arrangements vary by location.
This page does not determine medical eligibility or prescribe a transition pathway. A questionnaire cannot certify or invalidate your identity.
Find support. Prepare your next step.
Choose support for your wellbeing, or prepare a conversation about what matters to you.
Your first sentence does not need to be perfect.
The section below explains a clinical term you may have encountered. For personal support, you can start with your wellbeing and the kind of help you would find useful.
Based on American Psychiatric Association
“I would like space to discuss my gender and wellbeing without a predetermined outcome. My main question is about the support available to me.”Make it sound like you
Your questions, with room for nuance.
You can read just the answer you need.
Does being trans mean having gender dysphoria?
No. Identity and clinically significant distress are different. Not every trans person experiences dysphoria or wants the same support.
Based on WHO
Where this information comes from.
Use this hub to learn and prepare questions. It does not diagnose you or recommend a personal treatment plan. By Selfmora editorial; sources checked . Updated .
Additional explanations and examples: sources consulted . Examples illustrate ideas; they do not assess your personal health. Your questions
Our editorial approach