>>14290617"people saying they were born in a sex they don't identify with and this fact is causing them significant distress almost every day" actually exists.
all the buzzwords and DSM dur duh oh? uh nono? yesyes? bullshit is just social phenomenon.
For something to be in the medical realm, it should be "treatable" in practice, and doing some intervention on it should clearly make it better off than not doing it.
That's why we usually don't say bodily aging (not treatable atm) or grief (not sure skipping it is good for you) is an illness.
imo if some mental condition is causing someone significant distress almost everyday, and if there's some intervention out there that makes it better off in all overall considerations, it can be legit called "mental illness"
The problem is, "medical intervention" on "mental illness" has been narrowly associated with changing your mind to fit your body and daily environment, when it could obviously be the other way around as well.
"people saying they were born in a sex they don't identify with and this fact is causing them significant distress almost every day" can be called mental illness, and can be medically treated in many cases, with...
treatment option 1 : change your body (sex) so it fits your mind
treatment option 2 : change your mind so it fits your body
both are currently imperfect but equally respectable options, there's no reason society can dictate one option is inherently better than the other.
which option and which sub-options you choose on the path is completely up to each case, and just finding out what is the best path comes with much uncertainty and some cost involved.
but the overall picture on the issue itself is very clear, people shouldn't be dogmatically confused about this and they frequently are, such is life.
