dysphoria is a mismatch between the brain’s internal map of the body (how you know where your arms and legs are, how you know how wide/tall your body is, why you can touch your nose with your finger with your eyes closed) and the body’s physical reality. Gender dysphoria centers on the body’s sexed characteristics, which isn’t just the genitals but can also include the size of your hands, the sound of your voice, the shape of your shoulders and hips. It manifests in feelings of anxiety, distress, discomfort or disassociation. It’s not a “lifestyle choice”. It’s a medical, neurological condition. It is LITERALLY my brain going “these parts are not suppossed to be here, other parts are missing, WHAT IS GOING ON!?”.
I’m usually not thrown into a full-blown attack when strangers misgender me–it’s annoying, it makes me uncomfortable because I’m reminded of the body that they’re seeing, but they don’t know any better. My therapist SHOULD know better. She is well aware of my diagnosis, I talk about my dysphoria in every weekly session. And she still gets it wrong.