The many videos circulating including the ones I linked to in my prior Trans Awareness Week blog post show people using a term "Gender Identity Disorder," a diagnostic label which is no longer in use.

The diagnostic label of "Gender Identity Disorder" is replaced now with "Gender Dysphoria" and gets a bit of tweaking.

Gender Dysphoria is a term created to describe people whose gender at birth is contrary to the one they identify with, and includes presence of significant distress related to it. Trans does not equal Gender Dysphoria in this diagnostic world, but trans with significant distress does. I would like to be in that world where a person not in a clear binary gender identity isn't attacked, hated, fired, or murdered. Since we are not, it is hard to get my mind around how trans people could walk around withOUT distress.

Gender nonconformity is no longer being treated as a mental disorder in the 2013 DSM-5 (diagnostic manual for clinicians. Don't get me started on the DSM.) Gender Dysphoria is moved to its own chapter-out of Sexual Dysfunctions.

A post-transition specifier was added for anyone living in the experienced gender (as in out of the closet full time) rather than gender assigned by others (no matter the legal sanction) so as not to create barriers to transition resources solely based on the depathologizing of transgender people.

Relationship repair and support is not just for the gender binary.  Any transgendered person wishing to consult with me downtown on Saturdays can have a first appt as a gift with further consults on a donation (pay what you can) basis.

Love,
Shannon

She reminded me of my father-when he was young before he overdosed to death. Sweet, sensitive, introverted (getting refueled by being alone and exploring creativity), smart, and wanting better for her kid, but feeling very stuck.  I was thinking how freaky this is-that there is a chance at any time for an alcoholic not to lose everything, and I was in the presence of one of those moments.   I have thought about this a lot in my life-but to meet one on the cusp like this made me wish that my father could have heard what I was about to say to my client.

The kinds of suffering she was having-lack of sleep, anxiety, at times claustrophobia, an avalanche of negative thoughts, craving alcohol-got my wheels turning that she was likely experiencing a nutrient deficit, possibly doing that stockpiling of histamine dance that is undermethylation-a term I didn't even know when my father was alive. My very simplified version of undermethylation is that a step in the filtration process in the body isn't doing its job well. We get to a tipping or more likely a crashing point and all hell breaks loose.  See Dr. Ben Lynch's website to get all the information on genetic variants such as MTHFR and what to do about them.

I described a couple of possibilities of how certain nutritional crashes produce mood disorders and symptoms-anxiety, depression, cravings and that most doctors do not look at this seriously or at all.  Any client of mine that has any kind of personal body or mind suffering gets a referral to my hotshot top of the heap naturopath-STAT! Otherwise it is like trying to teach some dance steps to a person with a broken leg that hasn't been treated. Ok-ya they can take in the information, maybe, but can we at least get the dang leg xrayed?!  " I am not a doctor, Jim, I'm a therapist!"   But I know some amazing naturopaths and have learned a lot about an alternative understanding to what makes people feel like crud emotionally and it is not a lack of SSRI drugs. (Dr Peter Breggin, anyone? Google him and listen to this wise and gentle psychiatrist clarify things).

Just to be EXTRA CLEAR here I am not talking that psych drug company mumbo jumbo about diabetics take insulin for the rest of their lives, likewise a depressed person will need psych drugs for the rest of their lives (not). But if that's all you know, then that's all you know. See my blog post about Robert Whitaker and Anatomy of an Epidemic to get caught up on that big deception. Whitaker's updates are riveting and if you get a chance, listen closely to any of his talks posted on YouTube.

Where do you start?
Holistic mental health naturopaths have a few things they look at to see if your body is doing what it is supposed to so you can feel well. Anyone with any difficulties of mood would get checked for crashed or excessive amounts of necessary nutrients...like zinc. Or maybe a profile that shows you are stockpiling histamine and it is way too high in your bloodstream-this will cause mood swings, anxiety or in real severe amounts-manic, panic or OCD states. It runs in families and in children can manifest in many intense ways. Many of us moms have been told we got a typical mommy brain after childbirth but have no idea that our brain fog could be cleared up in hours to just a few days with nutritional boosting of the methylation cycle. I myself struggled painfully for almost 9 years postpartum thinking I lost most of my memory and tracking abilities within days of giving birth only to have most restored within 24 hours of histamine detox.

Let me cut to the chase and tell you that a few specific vitamins later, our aforementioned client gal lost her craving for alcohol, began sleeping well for the first time in many years, is shedding the anxiety and hopelessness that plagued her and as a result has the inner resources freed up to be a healthy partner and mother.
Bleak mood states and lack of sleep, intoxication and blackouts moved out make a lot of room for creative projects and growth.
Sometimes I wonder, "what would my Dad have done if freed from his suffering?"
And what about you?