6-Year-Old Rahul goes through his day just like any other kid. He hangs out with his friends, plays sports and goes to school regularly. But the only time he is ‘himself’ is at night when he finally sheds the mask and becomes what he actually is.

He tries on his mother’s make-up and puts on a dress that he secretly bought with his pocket money and likes to be referred to by feminine pronouns. ‘His’ parents think that this is just a phase, which will pass along with age. But this is not a children’s game. Rahul is going through, as classified by psychologists, ‘gender dysphoria’.

Mayo Clinic defines Gender Dysphoria as ‘the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics’. It is important to understand the difference between gender and sex. Sex is biological while gender is social and cultural.

Gender Dysphoria is not a made-up problem as many would like to believe. It comes under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5), which is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders.

Another myth is that transgenderism is a new phenomenon which is false. The Hijra community is famous in India, but it is not the only place with a term for transgenders. Khanith is a term normally used in Oman and the Arabian peninsula to describe transgenders. Waria is a term used in Indonesia and Kathoey is used by people of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

A Roman Emperor, Elagabalus, was recently reclassified as a transgender woman by the North Hertfordshire Museum after finding out that classical texts claim that the emperor once said: "Call me not Lord, for I am a Lady".

A video from 1937 also details the life of Peter Alexander (the former Mavis Higgins), who transitioned from a woman to a man. However, transgender men don’t get highlighted as masculine in general society is considered the norm, while feminine is categorised as ‘the other’, a deviation from the norm.

The symptoms of gender dysphoria are:

• Distress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Negative Self-Image
• Strong Dislike Of Your Sexual Anatomy
• Strong Preference For The Toys And Activities Associated With The Other Gender (In Children)

Children are diagnosed with gender dysphoria if they experience distress for six months. Some common behaviours of children with gender dysphoria are:

• Strong Desire To Be Of The Other Gender Or An Insistence That They Are The Other Gender
• Strong Preference For Wearing Clothes Typical Of The Opposite Gender
• Strong Preference For Cross-Gender Roles In Make-Believe Play Or Fantasy Play
• Strong Preference For The Toys, Games Or Activities Stereotypically Used Or Engaged In By The Other Gender
• Strong Preference For Playmates Of The Other Gender
• Strong Rejection Of Toys, Games And Activities Typical Of Their Assigned Gender
• Strong Dislike Of Their Sexual Anatomy
• Strong Desire For The Physical Sex Characteristics That Match Their Experienced Gender

It is of the utmost importance that we understand that children under the age of eighteen don’t undergo surgery or hormonal replacement therapy as many fear-mongering influencers would like you to believe. A child going through gender dysphoria would be put under therapy or might be prescribed puberty blockers.

Hormone therapy and surgery are only available to individuals above the age of eighteen, who might want to get rid of their characteristics of their biological sex.

Child Help Foundation sympathises with the transgender community and regularly conducts medical camps and ration kit distribution for them.

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