Dysphoria (gender, premenstrual, postcoital): symptoms and treatment

Greetings, friends!

Mood is a fickle thing, and each of us sometimes feels sad, worried or angry at the whole world. This condition can occur due to overwork or stress. This is natural and completely safe if the bad mood quickly disappears and the person returns to normal life. But not all mood swings are so harmless. Today we will talk about dysphoria - a dangerous condition that may be a sign of a serious disease of the nervous system or mental disorder. Together with you, we will understand what dysphoria is, what symptoms characterize it, why it occurs, and how to get rid of it. Let's begin.

Malicious affect and its essence

Dysphoria refers to a bad mood (angry affect), accompanied by a feeling of depression, embitterment, nervousness, causeless aggression, gloominess, sadness, dissatisfaction with surrounding people and circumstances, and various phobias.
This mental disorder is similar to a mild form of depression. But usually a person suffering from dysphoria is said to simply have a nasty character.

A negative mood most often occurs suddenly and lasts from several hours to many days and even weeks. It manifests itself as an independent ailment and as a complication in some neurological and mental diseases: epilepsy, paranoia, psychopathy, organic lesions of the central nervous system.

This condition most often does not last long and usually ends abruptly, that is, all symptoms suddenly disappear without a trace. If the dysphoric disorder is long-lasting, or the sick person is treated with medication, then the positive mood returns gradually.

When dysphoria is accompanied by manic-depressive psychosis, the patient often experiences amnesia after its completion. In other words, the patient does not remember at all what happened to him during the depressive state.

What is dysphoria?

Dysphoria is a state of extreme distress, dissatisfaction, or irritation. The person experiences severe mental and emotional discomfort, but at the same time his physical well-being is normal. Moreover, dysphoria is often accompanied by increased energy and agitation. The term is derived from the Greek word δυσφορέω (“disphoreo”), which translates as “to experience mental suffering” or “to be vexed.”

An attack of dysphoria usually begins spontaneously when a person is upset by some event, someone's action, or even his own mistake. At this moment, he experiences strong dissatisfaction, causing him to experience an avalanche-like increase in negative emotions. And even a small unpleasant trifle can make him suffer for two or three hours, thinking about all the grievances and frustrations that he has experienced.

A dysphoric episode usually ends as spontaneously as it begins - the person simply switches to other thoughts. However, it is highly likely that he will have another attack in the coming days. Dysphoria is not an independent diagnosis, and usually accompanies other diseases of the nervous system and mental disorders. Therefore, even if the attack has passed, you still need to take steps to improve your mental health.

What causes the disorder

Dysphoric disorder is not a symptom of any one disease. It is caused by a whole complex of different mental and neurological disorders and diseases associated with a state of dissatisfaction.

The occurrence of an angry affect depends on negative changes in life, as well as in the mental and physical state of the body: stress, sexual discomfort, hormonal imbalances, organic brain damage, disturbances in the functioning of the central nervous system.

Dysphoria can also be inherited. Doctors call this form of the disease the “dejection virus” and claim that it infects the embryo in the mother’s womb if she is constantly in a tearful state during pregnancy.

In most cases, this syndrome is a symptom of brain pathologies or mental disorders and manifests itself in the following diseases:

psychopathy;
schizophrenia;
epilepsy;
cerebral atherosclerosis, strokes;
organic disorders in the brain;
hypoglycemia;
various phobias;
oligophrenia;
atrophic processes in the brain in old people (dementia).

In addition, dysphoric disorder can be triggered by stress, shock situations, prolonged depression, dysfunctional environment and domestic violence. A depressed mood is often observed in people suffering from alcohol, drug and gambling addictions.

In women, the mental state changes noticeably before menstruation or menopause, during pregnancy (the so-called premenstrual dysphoric disorder). No person is immune from the development of such a condition.

The following are risk factors that can cause disease even in healthy people:

chronic fatigue, exhaustion of the nervous system due to insomnia;
excessive alcohol consumption, delirium tremens;
taking drugs that destroy the central nervous system;
influenza and other diseases that weaken the immune system and deplete the body’s strength;
hormonal imbalances, prolonged abstinence from sexual relations;
rheumatism;
constant stress;
Itsenko-Cushing's disease;
hereditary predisposition.

Causes

Dysphoric state is not a key symptom of a specific disease. Dysphoric symptom complex can manifest itself in the following cases:

oligophrenia;
organic brain pathologies;
atrophic processes, for example, senile dementia;
vascular diseases, such as strokes;
epilepsy;
psychopathy, including excitable ones.

In addition to mental illness, the pathology in question can be provoked by long-term depression, stress, hormonal changes, various addictions, as well as social factors, such as episodes of violence in childhood or upbringing in an antisocial family.

Forms of aggressive-depressive affect

Currently, official medicine recognizes three main types of dysphoria:

Gender . A severe mental condition in which a person refuses to accept his own biological sex and feels dissatisfied with the fact that he is not the person he would like. People with gender dysphoria are mentally and psychologically completely healthy. However, psychopaths and schizophrenics can sometimes rave about gender reassignment. That is why doctors carefully check patients undergoing sex reassignment surgery for the presence of mental disorders.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder. A temporary mental disorder, often observed in women before menstruation or with hormonal diseases. Premenstrual dysphoria is characterized by tearfulness, irritability, touchiness, moodiness, migraines, and lack of appetite. It is observed in many women and has recently been considered almost the norm. Women usually do not go to the doctor.
Postcoital . An episodic mental disorder caused in both sexes by dissatisfaction with a sexual partner or one's own appearance. Postcoital dysphoria manifests itself through disgust towards a sexual partner, painful sensations during sexual intercourse, is accompanied by depression and gloominess, and occurs several hours after intimacy.

What is special about gender affective disorder?

Gender dysphoria is a complex mental disorder, the symptoms of which appear in childhood and remain for life, so it is worth talking about it in more detail. Children suffering from a gender-specific form of the disease believe that they belong to the opposite sex: boys play with dolls and put on dresses, while for girls it’s the other way around.

With adolescence, the situation only gets worse: boys and girls refuse to accept their bodies and are in constant depression. Mature people usually become transvestites.

There is a distinction between gender dysphoria and homosexuality. A person who is attracted to people of the same sex fully recognizes and accepts his gender identity.

In a person with dysphoric disorder, psychological and biological sex do not match, so it seems to him that his attraction is heterosexual. Such people are very unhappy: society treats them with aggression and condemnation, and human rights activists rarely take their side. Due to constant humiliation and suffering, many of them decide to take an extreme measure: gender reassignment surgery.

This is a long-term medical event, consisting of several complex surgical procedures, visits to psychologists and psychotherapists, and hormonal complexes. Before the operation, the patient must undergo a mandatory medical examination, during which doctors make sure that dissatisfaction with gender is not caused by schizophrenia or psychopathy.

There are several factors that lead to a person developing gender dysphoria:

various hormonal disorders in the mother during gestation;
some endocrine ailments, mismatch of chromosomal and physical sex;
hidden hermaphroditism, the presence of underdeveloped organs characteristic of the other sex.

Types of dysphoria

Trying to better understand what dysphoria is, researchers have been able to identify several types of disorder that occur only in certain categories of people in the presence of characteristic factors. The most notable among them are the following types of dysphoria:

1. Gender. This condition manifests itself in rejection of one’s own gender. A person literally feels that he is living in a “strange” body. Quite often this leads to a corresponding operation.

2. Premenstrual. Women may experience a sharp deterioration in their mood and well-being before menstruation. Psychologists believe that this indicates accumulated health problems (chronic fatigue, lack of sleep, psychosomatic disorders), and a completely healthy woman should not plunge into a state of dysphoria during this period.

3. Postcoital. May occur after sexual intercourse. It manifests itself in the fact that a person experiences disgust towards himself or his partner, shame, regret, or the realization that there is the “wrong” person nearby.

Dysphoria is also classified by severity, distinguishing between mild and severe forms. The first has virtually no effect on the quality of life. A person may grumble a little, express dissatisfaction with certain events, but in general continue to live in the usual way. The consequences of severe dysphoria can be quite significant. A person experiences bouts of jealousy, anger and aggression, and commits impulsive actions that can greatly affect his family, relationships and work.

What symptoms accompany the disorder?

The disorder can manifest itself in varying degrees. A mild degree of the disease is observed in people experiencing constant stress. It is accompanied by causeless anger, irony, pickiness, causticity, and grumpiness.

In severe mood disorders, hallucinations and impaired motor activity are added to the usual symptoms of dysphoria. A person becomes either very active, excited, or, conversely, inhibited and slow.

If dysphoria is associated with organic damage to the brain, then the person experiences headaches and dizziness, and his sensitivity threshold changes.

Normal touching of the skin or harmless irritants causes burning and itching. In old people, mental disorder manifests itself in the form of apathy, feelings of melancholy, despair, and hopelessness. Young people behave more violently and aggressively: they baselessly attack people around them, get angry, irritated, and find fault with all sorts of little things.

Who is affected by this?

Until recently, studies of postcoital dysphoria were conducted in women. In one of them, among 230 female students, approximately 46% admitted to scientists that they had felt sad after sex at least once in their lives. 5% of participants said they had experienced these symptoms in the past four weeks. Another study conducted among the same target group - female university students - showed similar results.

But more recent research shows that these experiences are familiar to men, too. One of them, published in the scientific journal “Sex and Marital Therapy” in 2018, found that out of 1,200 men surveyed, 41% experienced post-coital dysphoria at least once in their lives, 20% - at least once in the last four weeks, 3% regularly.

What should relatives pay attention to?

Only close people can suspect dysphoria in a person. The patient himself never admits that his psyche is not in order. He sincerely considers his condition a natural reaction to the negative events allegedly occurring around him. It is urgent to take a person to a psychologist or psychiatrist if he has been experiencing:

irritability;
bitterness;
aggressiveness, tendency to violence;
tearfulness, sadness;
excessive talkativeness;
megalomania;
depression, indifference to life, feelings of despair.

Gender dysphoria

The gender type requires special attention; its nature is more complex. Gender dysphoria consists of rejection of one’s physiological sex, that is, there is a failure in one’s own gender identity.

This state appears when a person understands which gender he belongs to, but psychologically refuses to accept it and internally resists. A person can identify himself as either the opposite sex or mixed. There are various cases in psychiatry.

Long-term gender dysphoria leads to the desire to surgically change one's own gender, which does not always bring mental relief.

Complex of therapeutic measures

You can get rid of a mild form of dysphoria on your own. To do this, it is enough to use relaxing procedures and engage in auto-training. But in case of severe disorder, you need to consult a doctor. Typically, two methods are used to treat dysphoria: medication and psychotherapy.

Moreover, the patient is often prescribed not one drug, but a whole group:

barbiturates , which relax the nervous system and are effective against epilepsy;
sedativesrelieving aggression and irritability;
antidepressants to prevent depression;
hormonal agents for premenstrual or gender dysphoria.

If a mood disorder is a symptom of a mental illness, then it is treated first.

Do not take medications without consulting a doctor. This may lead to unwanted health effects.

As for the psychotherapeutic method, doctors conduct sessions of psychoanalysis and cognitive therapy. Their main goal: reducing aggression, combining the patient’s actual behavior with his ideas about himself, increasing self-esteem, replacing negative behavioral reactions with positive and socially acceptable emotions.

The task of a psychologist is to teach the patient to cope with his feelings, to change his thinking and attitude towards the world around him for the better.

It is important for a person undergoing psychotherapy to feel that he is empathized and sympathized with, that they do not turn away from him. This greatly helps to adapt to society during the rehabilitation period. If the patient behaves extremely inappropriately, treatment is carried out in a hospital.

Dysphoria: treatment

A psychotherapist treats dysphoria. As a rule, complex therapy is indicated: medication and psychotherapy. Consultations with a psychologist are the main method of treatment. Drug therapy is auxiliary. At an early stage of the disease, only psychotherapy sessions are sufficient.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy methods such as psychoanalysis and cognitive behavioral psychotherapy are used. Work is carried out in the following areas:

stopping aggression and teaching the client rational ways to vent aggression;
bringing the ideal self image closer to the real self;
teaching the client techniques for self-regulation and managing emotions;
elimination of cognitive distortions (replacing destructive reactions and emotions with socially acceptable ones);
development of empathy, the ability to empathize (it is important to give this to the patient himself);
correction of personality self-esteem;
development of communication skills;
development of positive thinking;
formation of internal motivation to build productive relationships.

After treatment, the client needs psychotherapeutic support. The support of loved ones and a psychologist, acceptance and understanding from others are important to him. It is necessary to help a person accept himself and re-adapt to society.

Taking medications

The list of medications is selected individually. As a rule, medications are prescribed to reduce anxiety, stop attacks of aggression, restore a depleted body, and normalize sleep. If dysphoria is a secondary disorder, a sign of another pathology, then treatment is aimed at eliminating the primary cause. Depending on the specific course of the disorder, neuroleptics, antidepressants, sedatives, anticonvulsants, and barbiturates are prescribed. In particularly severe cases, treatment in a hospital setting is indicated.

Dysphoria during PMS is treated with oral contraceptives, sedatives and painkillers, and sleeping pills. Sometimes hormone therapy, antidepressants and tranquilizers are prescribed.

Gender dysphoria requires taking hormonal medications. In rare cases (with the appropriate conclusion of a psychotherapist), sex reassignment surgery is prescribed.

Postcoital dysphoria does not require medical treatment and goes away on its own. However, it is useful to consult a psychologist.

What consequences might there be?

If dysphoria drags on for several days or weeks, and a person makes no attempts to overcome it, then physiological and nervous disorders inevitably occur in the body: surges in blood pressure, tachycardia, drying of the mucous membranes, insomnia, lack of appetite.

Irritation and anger gradually turn into apathy, indifference to everything, and despair. A patient in this state has an increased craving for alcohol and drugs, and a desire to commit a crime or suicide. Which is what usually happens.

Since dysphoria is a very common cause of suicide, it is important to promptly detect this disease in a loved one and begin treatment to prevent tragedy.

Symptoms of dysphoria

The first and main symptom of dysphoria is a sudden deterioration in mood. Usually it occurs under the influence of some event, but sometimes it can occur spontaneously, without any reason. The person begins to feel sad, nervous, angry, or experience other unpleasant emotions. This condition persists for 2-3 hours, but sometimes it can drag on for several days.

Dysphoria manifests itself differently for everyone. This could be grumpiness, expressed dissatisfaction with people around him or with current events, pickiness, causticity, touchiness, or a person’s confidence that he is constantly being treated unfairly. If someone is often in a state of mild dysphoria, others begin to consider this a feature of his character. He himself contributes to this, since he is usually prone to conflicts, complaints and criticism of others.

A characteristic feature of an attack of dysphoria is that it is difficult for a person to concentrate in such a state. He is completely immersed in experiences, can behave actively, talk a lot, but at the same time completely fail to perceive what those around him say. It seems to him that he is adequate and argues quite reasonably, but at the same time he is often unable to concentrate and meaningfully answer the question asked.

If a dysphoric episode lasts for several days, it affects the functioning of the autonomic nervous system. At the same time, a person’s physical well-being changes noticeably, and symptoms such as:

deterioration in sleep quality;
loss of appetite;
loss of interest in enjoyable activities and pleasures;
palpable tachycardia (heart rhythm disturbances);
blood pressure surges;
drowsiness during the day and waking up feeling energized in the middle of the night;
dry mucous membranes (dry mouth, throat).

Depending on the severity of dysphoria, a person's emotions vary widely. He may experience melancholy (how to get rid of melancholy?), apathy, despair, jealousy and anger. In a serious condition, outbursts of severe anger are possible, during which a person is capable of impulsive actions. In particular, he may shout rude words and insults, which he will not even remember later. Very often, people try to cope with dysphoria with the help of alcohol, but it only makes the situation worse.

Dysphoria: types, causes, signs, symptoms, treatment

Dysphoria is a mood disorder characterized by tension, as well as sad and angry irritability, reaching an outburst of anger with aggressiveness. Often this disorder is observed in diseases such as psychopathy, as well as epilepsy.

Dysphoria is an antonym of the term euphoria. The term dysphoria comes from the Greek, meaning torment and suffering. This manifestation is very painful for a person.

Dysphoria causes

The disease is observed in diseases such as dysmorphophobia, schizophrenia, hypoglycemia. The causes of this disease include insomnia, chronic pain, sexual dysfunction, hyperthyroidism, Cushing's disease, epilepsy, influenza, and rheumatism.

Dysphoria can be present in the structure of the depressive syndrome, and can also often be observed as an acute reaction to stress. The disorder is often found in drug addiction, anxiety neurosis, premenstrual syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and personality disorder (borderline personality disorder or dissocial personality disorder).

Dysphoria symptoms

This disorder is characterized by a feeling of hostility towards others and gloomy irritability. The disease does not have mental or motor retardation, but, on the contrary, is characterized by frequent affective outbursts and ease of aggression.

Mild dysphoria is characterized by pickiness, grumpiness, touchiness, and sometimes sarcasticity and irony. Often the environment perceives mild dysphoria as a characteristic feature of the individual.

Mild dysphoria is characteristic of febrile patients, as well as patients taking high doses of steroids - adrenal hormones. In some cases there is altered affect, in others there is hostility and varying degrees of irritation. Movement disorders are present.

Some patients experience a lethargic state, others have increased activity and psychomotor agitation. Excitement in mild dysphoria is often monotonous and silent, while in short bursts it is accompanied by inarticulate sounds and screams.

Patients complain that it is difficult for them to concentrate and think, and they do not always understand what is being asked of them.

In cases where the disorder lasts longer than a week, autonomic and somatic disorders are recorded: sleep disturbance, loss of appetite, and as a result weight loss, dry mucous membranes, fluctuations in blood pressure, tachycardia.

Severe dysphoria is marked by anger, melancholy, feelings of hopelessness, despair, as well as outbursts of rage and is characterized by a feeling of disappointment, general dissatisfaction, and loss of interest in life.

A prolonged stay in this state can provoke the use of alcohol, drugs, and also encourage the commission of illegal acts or suicide.

Sometimes it seems that the patient’s mood is a manifestation of an adequate reaction to the situations in which he finds himself, but the frequency and periodicity of symptoms suggest that this is a dysphoric disease.

In rare cases, the disorder manifests itself as a state of exaltation, characterized by talkativeness, enthusiasm, reasoning about ideas of greatness and delirium. Often the disease lasts 2-3 days, much less often it drags on for up to several weeks, and then stops unexpectedly.

In older people, the disorder occurs as a mild depressive state with symptoms of anxiety. Younger people tend to be picky and irritable.

With somatogenic dysphoric disorders, there is no anger, affective tension, and stunnedness is less pronounced, unlike epilepsy. The disease is accompanied by various disorders of the autonomic nervous system.

In rare cases, the disease manifests itself as mild euphoria or apathy.

Dysphoria can often affect healthy people. Sullenness, as well as a gloomy mood, overtakes a person like a thundercloud, and then sensitivity to all the actions of others appears, as well as a tendency to aggressive outbursts. Many researchers classify the disorder as a type of nonconvulsive seizure.

How to differentiate dysphoria from depression?

Dysphoria is intrusiveness, impatience, suddenness, self-injury, sudden attacks, aggression. Mood changes, as acutely as they arise, disappear just as suddenly.

Depression has lingering symptoms and can be cured by sunshine and daylight. And dysphoria means that someone else has it worse than you, and the awareness of this brings relief. The highest peak of dysphoria is to cause trouble for someone who is feeling good so that they feel bad.

Dysphoria treatment

Treatment tactics for dysphoric disorders depend on the characteristics of the type, as well as the course of the disease. If epileptic dysphoria is observed, then antiepileptic drugs or barbiturates are most effective in treatment. Combining antipsychotics with anticonvulsant therapy is effective. Mild forms of the disease can be stopped with Neuleptil.

The atypicality of the twilight state is relieved by antipsychotics. The affective background, consisting of anger and irritability, is treated by adding sedatives. If signs of melancholy or depression occur, antidepressants (Melipramine, etc.) are recommended. Patients with severe forms are placed in a psychiatric hospital.

Treatment of the premenstrual form includes taking oral contraceptives with lithium and progesterone preparations. Treatment with tranquilizers and antidepressants is also effective.

If a gender disorder is suspected, a psychiatric examination is prescribed and only then the doctor builds an individual treatment program for the patient. In severe cases, sex reassignment surgery is recommended.

Distinct groups of dysphoria

Dysphoric disorders associated with sexual problems (postcoital, premenstrual, gender dysphoria) are classified as a separate group.

Postcoital dysphoria

A sharp decrease in mood, a feeling of sadness and depression often occurs immediately after sexual intercourse that is successful in all aspects. Postcoital dysphoria can also manifest itself as a feeling of anxiety, irritation towards a partner, strong emotional stress, turning into motor restlessness. A person has a need to physically move away from his partner, he can behave rudely and even aggressively. The duration of the episode ranges from several minutes to a couple of hours. Not all people experience these symptoms; men are more susceptible to postcoital dysphoria.

The formation of the disease is attributed to a feeling of fatigue and the rapid release of hormones as a result of sexual intercourse. Hormonal changes explain the reverent attitude of many smokers to a cigarette after sex: nicotine provokes the release of dopamine, a hormone responsible for feelings of happiness and euphoria. After orgasm, glutamate is produced, which leads to a decrease in dopamine production so that the body can rest. Therefore, a person feels the need to compensate for its deficiency with the help of nicotine or sweets and coffee, which also cause the release of the joy hormone.

Of course, the use of artificial stimulants is not the best way to combat a decrease in dopamine levels. Women intuitively prefer a healthy way to solve a problem: confidential conversations and hugs after sex contribute to the production of another hormone - oxytocin, which provokes the release of dopamine without causing addiction. Based on the above, one can understand why postcoital dysphoria occurs more often during adultery and sexual contacts with prostitutes. The less close the sexual partner is, the less release of the hormone oxytocin occurs.

Gender dysphoria

Gender dysphoria is characterized by the feeling of being a woman mistakenly confined in the body of a man and vice versa, there is a need not only to wear clothes of the opposite sex - transvestites, but also to change gender through surgery.

Many patients with nuclear transsexualism are deeply unhappy due to the negative attitude of society and the lack of opportunity to realize the desired gender behavior. In this situation, there is a high risk of developing prolonged severe depression and other mental disorders. An accurate diagnosis is made and treatment is prescribed only based on the results of a serious psychiatric examination.

Causes of gender dysphoria

The exact cause of gender personality disorder has not yet been identified. The main theory today continues to be the theory of intrauterine development disorders as the leading cause of the formation of transgenderism. According to scientists, gender dysphoric syndrome can also be caused by:

hormonal disorders that occur during pregnancy;
congenital hermaphroditism
endocrine pathologies that cause an imbalance of progesterone and estrogen;
tendency to mental illness.

Why does dysphoria occur?

Dysphoric depression sometimes manifests itself as a result of common human illnesses. This could be influenza , thyrotoxicosis , rheumatism , etc.

Sometimes the causes of dysphoria are withdrawal symptoms in drug addicts. In addition, dysphoria is also observed in some mental illnesses. Sometimes in epilepsy, dysphoria is a precursor to an attack, and can also appear after an epileptic seizure.

In addition to these diseases, the causes of dysphoria may be the following: a reaction to serious stress, some types of personality disorder , anxiety neurosis , hypoglycemia . This symptom is also typical for people who suffer from insomnia , some sexual disorders, chronic pain, and hyperthyroidism.

Premenstrual dysphoria develops in women suffering from premenstrual syndrome . This disorder is characterized by low mood, a feeling of mental and physical discomfort, tearfulness, insomnia, pain in the body, depression, etc. The woman feels tired, is depressed and depressed, and has difficulty concentrating. This condition develops approximately 5 days before the onset of menstruation and disappears after the onset of menstruation. Therefore, the symptoms are cyclical. Premenstrual dysphoria is diagnosed only if the symptoms significantly disturb the woman's condition and affect her quality of life.

Gender dysphoria is characterized by dissatisfaction on the part of a man or woman with his or her gender status due to unexplained reasons. Gender dysphoria can be noticed by parents even in a child who exhibits interests unusual for his gender. But only a specialist can clearly determine the presence of this disease. Gender dysphoria, if left uncorrected, leads to constant stress, which can later develop into neurosis. Sometimes a person who suffers from gender dysphoria uses alcohol and drugs to escape unpleasant thoughts.

Gender dysphoria and homosexuality should not be considered identical concepts. If a homosexual does not want to change his own gender, then a person suffering from gender dysphoria is initially not satisfied with his gender.

Premenstrual dysphoria

The hormonal background of the female body is not stable; during PMS, severe dysphoria may occur, which doctors determine by specific symptoms - changes in appetite, increased irritability and fatigue, headache, insomnia, inability to concentrate, depression and anxiety, sudden mood swings. Treatment with hormonal contraceptives helps overcome the disease.

Alcohol dysphoria

Clinical manifestations of alcoholic dysphoria are characterized by severe irritability, angry mood, and a tense state. It occurs in different ways - it can manifest itself in a couple of minutes, or develop into a protracted form, lasting up to several weeks. Dysphoric states can serve as a signal of an impending relapse; such symptoms characterize the degree of craving for alcohol.

Alcohol dysphoria can occur with predictable frequency (every 3, 6, 12 months), during a period of prolonged abstinence from drinking alcohol - the body requires alcoholic stimulants. Communication with others causes irritation in such people only if specific requirements are not met. This condition is treated with medications, with an individual approach. The treatment period is 2-4 weeks.

Symptoms

Mental instability is called emotional lability, the degree of which depends on the emotional weakness of the individual (impulsive type or borderline state).

The impulsive type develops a persistent state of dysphoria: people are unstable in a team, conflict-prone, prone to violence, unyielding and vindictive. A person with a borderline state is characterized by suspiciousness, enthusiasm, easily susceptible to the influence of others, and gladly adopts bad habits and tendencies toward antisocial behavior.

Signs will depend on the cause of the abnormal condition in the patient. The duration of the attacks worsens over time - the attacks become more frequent and last for weeks. Long-term mental state deviations can cause serious illnesses.

Symptoms of dysphoria:

irritability;
anxiety;
lack of self-control;
spontaneity of actions;
anger;
impulsiveness;
aggression.

For alcohol dependence the following is added:

hallucinations;
obsessive state;
problems with digestion, heart, blood vessels, liver;
motor disorders.

For transsexualism:

loss of identity;
lack of gender perception.

Gender dysphoria occurs in most cases due to improper parenting, when the father has a softer character than the mother.

If during pregnancy the mother expected the birth of a girl, but the result was a boy, excessive gentleness in upbringing is often observed. This contributes to the emergence in boys of a craving for playing with dolls, frequent dressing up, and the use of cosmetics, and in girls - for playing with boys, loving shorts, trousers, and refusing dresses and dolls.

Causes of gender dysphoria

Primary gender identity begins to form in a child in the first year of life. An example is the gender behavior of parents. If the family has a masculine mother or a feminine father, there is a high probability that the child will have an identity crisis. The second common reason for gender identity disorders is the parents’ desire for a child of a different gender. A mother who dreamed of a girl subconsciously (or quite consciously) strives to raise a feminine boy; The father, who wanted a boy, forces the girl to go fishing with him, go to football, forbids her to wear feminine clothes and wear high-heeled shoes. This leads to a distortion of gender identity.

Symptoms of a gender identity crisis

A mild form of identity crisis is expressed in so-called “gender discomfort.” A striking example of this concept are tomboy girls. Severe dysphoric disorder leads a person to desire to surgically change their gender. In some cases, it can be combined with schizophrenia or another serious mental illness.

A person with gender dysphoria feels self-doubt, vulnerability, hopelessness, disappointment in himself and in life, and an unwillingness to contact those who do not accept his true essence. We should not forget that transgender people and transvestites face ridicule and unjustified aggression directed at them every day.

An identity crisis may be temporary. After proper treatment, a person’s psychological state returns to normal. It should also be noted that gender reassignment surgery does not always meet the expectations of a transgender person. This indicates serious violations in the area of gender identity.