this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2025
58 points (95.3% liked)

Transfem

4023 readers
72 users here now

A community for transfeminine people and experiences.

This is a supportive community for all transfeminine or questioning people. Anyone is welcome to participate in this community but disrupting the safety of this space for trans feminine people is unacceptable and will result in moderator action.

Debate surrounding transgender rights or acceptance will result in an immediate ban.

This community is supportive of DIY HRT. Unsolicited medical advice or caution being given to people on DIY will result in moderator action.

Posters may express that they are looking for responses and support from groups with certain experiences (eg. trans people, trans people with supportive parents, trans parents.). Please respect those requests and be mindful that your experience may differ from others here.

Some helpful links:

Support Hotlines:

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Well, as the title says, I Am curious what Dysphoria feels like for you? When/how did you realise, that certain feelings are in reality Dysphoria?

Edit: Damn, some of you really have lived through a lot. I Am very happy that I can't really relate to quite some of the comments here, because that sounds horrible.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

My experience with dysphoria has always been subtle and unspecific. It took a very long time for me to recognize it.

In adulthood, it was little more than a slight inclination towards depression. Whenever I would notice it, it was far easier to attribute it to immediate circumstances.

When I felt it in winter, surely its just seasonal depression. When I felt it in summer, its just because I hate summer. During covid I was miserable because I couldn't go anywhere, then afterwards I was miserable because I had to go places. This was all dysphoria, but nothing about it gave any indication it was about gender.

Also I had the emotional range of a thimble. (what is this metaphor?) I could feel empty, or angry, and little else.

I never liked how I looked in pictures avoided taking them, or appearing in them when possible. I guess I'm just ugly, that's the most reasonable explanation.

It took me a very long time to realize I was trans, and even longer to be ready to accept it. It wasn't until I started HRT and most of what I have described went away that I realized it was dysphoria.

I dislike the word dysphoria, because its such a strong word. For a long time I thought that my subtle and nonspecific feelings couldn't possibly be enough to be dysphoria.

To anyone out there reading this because you're uncertain if you're feeling dysphoria: When a disorder is named after its symptoms it's usually named at a very early stage of research, when researchers are only able to find the most obvious examples. This is why so many disorders have incredibly scary sounding names. Dysphoria can be that bad for some, but it can also be so subtle you don't even realize you're suffering.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Dysphoria can be that bad for some, but it can also be so subtle you don’t even realize you’re suffering.

Very true! Up until about a month before my egg cracked, I would have described myself as a cheerful person who was never depressed, and happy with who I was.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Same. In many ways ignorance is bliss, but it is no substitute.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

This description matches my experience closely. I haven’t started HRT for several reasons, but I am curious to know whether it would address the depression that has been the background radiation of my adulthood.