Ask the Therapist
Gender Identity Disorder
I am a graduate student working on a MA degree in Art Therapy.
I am not wanting you to do my homework assignment for me. However, I would
like some help on finding an adequate source. Our assignment is to find
out when you would diagnose GID in Children vs. GID in adolescent/adult, when
does a child become an adolescent. As for now, I will assume it is an age
since the research I have found has not told me any different, yet has not
stated specifically either. We need to find the answer to that and to the
differences in general in when to diagnose the two. The age
requirements-and do you diagnose according to how old the client is at time of
diagnosis or how old client was at time of onset of symptomology. These
are the things I need to know. I would greatly appreciate any resources
you can provide (internet or journals are preferable). Everything that I
have found so far has just spoken about environmental and social influences.
I need help!
The term 'adolescent' is one of social convention. It refers to a period when the offspring of a mammal reaches a point where they individuate from the parent and seek both consistent social contact outside the immediate family system and begin to explore potential mates. Adolescence in humans is variable and changes based on social convention, culture, etc. You'd be better served talking about pre-pubescence and pubescence as a determinant.
In any event, despite the diagnostic convention to which you are referring, if you had ever come into contact with either an adult or child suffering from GID, you would be well aware that the behaviors of both are virtually
indistinguishable. They manifest somewhat differently, but the infrastructure is the same and, quite honestly, make the question you are
endeavoring to answer moot.
