It’s not my sense of self that’s unstable, it’s the world’s sense of me

The harms of the construct of ‘personality disorders’ towards transgender communities

Bibliographic Data

ID12737435
AuthorsHattie Porter (0000-0003-3230-6488, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume16
Issue2
Pages135-148
Publication date2023-07-09
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Psychosocial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1478-6737 • E-ISSN: 1478-6737
PublisherBristol University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/147867321x16862340840414
OpenAlexW4383681755
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

Research indicates transgender people are more likely to be diagnosed with a personality disorder than cisgender people. While this interrelationship is complex and multifaceted, this article discusses the disproportionate rates of personality disorder diagnosis in transgender people as rooted within social and historical contexts; suggesting transgender people are not more likely to have a personality disorder, rather they are more likely to be diagnosed with a personality disorder. Transgender identities have historically been framed as a manifestation of mental illness as opposed to an identity and inherent aspect of personhood. This is argued to confine understanding of transgender identities to the parameters of pathology, silencing and marginalising transgender communities. I suggest the disproportionate rate of diagnosis of personality disorders in transgender people is an extension of this historical pathologisation. Clinician bias may contribute to inappropriate diagnosis of personality disorders in transgender people due to personal values and unfamiliarity with transgender experiences. However, bias is also more deeply rooted within the construct of personality disorders itself, which appears to inherently pathologise deviation from rigid gender norms and expectations. This has implications for the ethical and ontological basis of the diagnostic construct

Construct (python library · Identity (music · Personality · Personality disorders · Personhood · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Transgender · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Mental Health and Psychiatry · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

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