The DSM-V and Gender Identity Disorder
UVIC

April 5, 2012
Table of Contents

Introduction 1-2
Diagnostic and Statistics Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) 2-3
Problems with the Current Diagnostic Criteria for GID
Support of Keeping the GID Diagnosis in DSM-V
Therapists Role in Transgendered Issues

Introduction
Although Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and homosexuality has been in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for many years, I was personally unaware of the controversy that surrounded it. I realized that I needed to educate myself in the issues and changes that have occurred in the DSM regarding GID and homosexuality over the years.
The APA
Political and educational transgender organizations were very much in favor of removing GID from the DSM. The political groups had the highest percentages (75%) favoring removal of the diagnosis, followed by the educational groups (70%) (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010) . The DSM is a political document—a social construction—shaped more by sociocultural influences than the demands of practicing professionals in the field of mental health (Conner-Greene, 2006). The DSM has become a profoundly powerful book in terms of the health insurance industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and even the courts (Conner-Greene, 2006).
Problems with the Current Diagnostic Criteria for GID
Some reasons given for deleting GID from the DSM included: (1) concerns that the diagnosis inappropriately pathologized an aspect of one’s identity; (2) the conviction that the diagnosis is stigmatizing and that this is a major cause of distress; (3) the potential use of the diagnosis as a discriminatory tool, resulting in, for example, exclusion from military service or healthcare services; and finally (4) the belief that GID is a neurological or brain phenomenon, not a mental disorder (Narrow & Cohen-Kettenis, 2010).
Support of Keeping the GID Diagnosis in the DSM
The most important reason cited for allowing the diagnosis to persist was insurance reimbursement and legal advocacy. Some members and advocates of the trans community expressed