So... I'm the famously supreme creator of imaginative and intriguing topic names... LOL
Should anyone have a better suggestion just let me know.
I think the most difficult problem is when and what to do and HOW, once a very clear understanding has been reached as to the extent and the nature of the problem.
In order to address this problem, all political correction must go out the window.
All co-morbidities must be taken into account and dealt with before any consideration of any potential psycho-sexual disconnect.
What this means is that the vast majority of what's been installed into the WPATH bible of cliches and personal projections by the gay and lesbians authors must accompany the PC rhetoric OUT THE WINDOW.
How's that for starters?
I've described my experience with "gatekeeping" and how... edifying, I guess... it felt to me. But it wasn't the protocols that made it so. It was the doctors. I couldn't believe how closely they paid attention to every word I said. Not failing to challenge anything that seemed incongruent or worrisome... but compassionate and understanding throughout.
Even the weakest link—a new psychiatric nurse—possessed a slower but deep comprehension of what I wanted my words to convey. She was a veteran in psychiatry, but I was her first patient at the evaluation unit.
The psychologist I was the least in contact with. But I was surprised at how she smilingly picked up on things that most hurt, or alternatively send thrills through my spine. Like some (non-platonic) details of my (platonic) relationship with the first boy who didn't write me off as a weirdo... LOL... I now actually regret not being able to talk with her more... but a decision had been made to not waste any unnecessary resources on me.
And... I think that is important. Flexibility. My first diagnosis was "F64.0, transsexualism, Primary, Permanent." It was temporarily amended to 64.9 (indeterminate gender incongruence) for the duration of screening... but it seemed to me the department chief had made up her mind before we'd even walked from the waiting room to her office door.
It's actually strange... I
really wanted to be rushed through. And was elated when I was. But now that I know I can be made whole I've gained patience. I do want it to happen today. But the knowledge that it will happen makes the wait bearable.
Ugh. This is becoming a ramble. Let's try again.
So. I guess I feel that:
The purpose of evaluation should be elimination of regretters.
The evaluation protocols should be comprehensive enough to accomplish that purpose.
The doctors applying the protocols should be skillful enough to know when to make judgment calls.
And they should also be personable enough to gain the trust of those being evaluated.
Yes... I'm very biased. And "fortunate" I guess, because I clearly was considered an open and shut case despite the pain I felt. But I'd like to believe that had the doctors found any problems I would not have walked away in a huff. Because I hope I could still have seen that they truly cared.
So... what would I have felt like were I rejected? Would I have accepted it?
Hmmmm....
I guess that I'd have felt disappointed. And done what I'm doing anyway. Go private. Abroad... LOL. Because I know what I need. And what the system provides is inadequate anyway. The whole process would just become a LOT more complicated, since everything about transition is now codified in law.
Ugh. I'm rambling again... too sleeepy... But.
There are always doctors who are willing to take money and do what the patient wants. Some are excellent. Some are awful. Caveat emptor.
However, when discussing public health I feel it should always be kept in mind that there are people whom transition does
not help. One such locally famous F2M2F activist insists that instead of evaluation everyone who seeks treatment should be sent to therapy... and she has A LOT of followers. And is featured on TV. And... she truly has been broken by the experience. There must be vastly more those who simply suffer in silence. Or make forums their permanent home.
And that can create problems for everyone who does need treatment. It skews the picture.
I've written so many times of my horror of what I call the twilight zone. A destination where one is neither male nor female. To some it is comfortable. True. To many, actually. Maybe even most. But... when sold as the terminal station for everyone it can be poison. And when one enters it by mistake it can be deadly.
I don't know how to close this. Other than to once again repeat that there
are different needs. And that's been said by others before. And it's what to do about it that counts. And I can't think of a foolproof way to ensure that they'd be recognized and accommodated for.
So I guess I'll just go to sleep for now. Have fun, everyone... See you later...
