I can’t think of a better analogy for what people in thrall to gender are experiencing: 'staring into the darkness so long that you start to hallucinate.'
It's well established that OCD can manifest as fears around sexual orientation (sexual orientation ocd, formerly known as homosexual ocd). Why wouldn't it be possible for gender identity to be the focus of OCD ruminations? This article makes so many points to think about. Change "sexual orientation" to "gender identity" or "transgender" or change "anxiety" and "attraction" to "dysphoria" and "euphoria" and see how familiar it is. Imagine if your "compulsive rituals" are affirmed, celebrated, and even enshrined into law. Imagine if everywhere you turn you see things encouraging you to engage in your anxious questioning?
"At the core of SO-OCD is the feeling of doubt that is common in obsessive compulsive disorder. Deep down, the person with SO-OCD wonders if they are a fraud and if they have been confused about their real self all along."
"For obvious reasons, SO-OCD is extremely psychologically distressing. In an attempt to combat obsessive thoughts, people experiencing this condition develop compulsive rituals. However, no matter how hard they try to dispel the thoughts, they do not go away. And no matter how hard they try to succeed in their self-imposed rituals, such actions do not quiet the thoughts.
The obsessive thoughts associated with SO-OCD can cause confusion and fear. These thoughts can be so distressing that they shut down otherwise functioning, flourishing people."
"In people with SO-OCD, a fleeting thought of attraction can set off a cascade of doubt and terror that is not experienced by most people. Most people would dismiss the thought for what it was: just a thought.
Also confusing is the fact that arousal and anxiety feel quite similar."
I had the same experience while in an emotionally abusive relationship -- trying to "figure it out" just messed me up worse and kept me attached. Learning about narcissism and reading accounts of other people who had experienced the same thing helped -- and letting go of "figuring it out". I was trying to understand from my worldview--a naive one- that couldn't see the love bombing etc as intentional tactics. Thanks Eliza for all you do.
Reminds me of the book and movie "Burning Bed" which I'd some related reasons to delve into recently:
Wikipedia: "The Burning Bed is both a 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg."
Probably well before the time of both of you ... 😉🙂, but seems of more than passing relevance to the whole transgender phenomenon. "love-bombing" for one thing.
Some rather twisted and quite pathological psychology in all of that.
Love this! As someone who has experienced OCD, from my angle I might say: “deep introspection (rumination) is a compulsion that will only make an obsession grow.” What he did is the RP part of ERP (exposure and response prevention)- the only proven treatment for OCD.
Re the role of “deep introspection”: I’ve been wondering if it’s partly to blame.
Therapeutic discourse to “know yourself” seems nonsensical: as if you could be a stranger to yourself, as if there is a specific rock-solid self that is immutable, as if “knowing yourself” leads to happiness (rather than depression over your flaws).
And “mindfulness”: being aware of your body, thoughts, feelings might not help. I may not be objective about mindfulness because I hate it—when I’ve tried it, I experience a battle with anxious thoughts, relieved only when I get up and *do* something.
Many have pointed out that engagement with others is crucial to our mental health and yet most of the mental health discourse is about turning inward.
This gender woo is just another one of those crazy things that have captured people..like the Satanic Panic, only 100 times more idiotic and much more harmful ! “ Born in the wrong body” “ assigned at birth” , etc. etc. , it’s absolutely absurd! And above all it’s LIES!
I hope this nightmare will stop, but with billions of dollars funding this insanity, I’m not sure when!
It's impossible to feel anything but compassionate towards people trapped in such a debilitating morass of doubt and anxiety... Or anything but angry towards the complacency and self-righteousness of "woke" pushers of this highly destructive cult. The insidious persuasiveness of its own incoherence exploits doubt as a fertile compost for nurturing self-destructive delusion.
Out of curosity, I took a look at the Toronto Gender Dysphoria Test:
"Based on research from University of Toronto
"Biological sex and social gender are congruent for most people, but not for everyone. A mismatch between sex and gender tends to cause distress and discomfort, which psychiatrists refer to as gender dysphoria. Those with gender dysphoria are often uncomfortable with their assigned gender and may feel disconnected from their own body. Gender dysphoria is associated with high rates of stigmatization and discrimination, resulting in a negative self-image and increased occurrence of other mental health challenges.
"Do you have gender dysphoria? For each of the following statements, indicate your level of agreement below."
The University of Toronto should be ashamed of producing such an incoherent piece of writing. Its first sentence distinguishes between "biological sex" and "social gender". But it then refers to "assigned gender" (implicitly, at birth) -- instead of OBSERVED SEX.
Thus it totally muddies the water of any coherent discourse that acknowledges any difference between sex and gender. Perhaps exactly as intended.
It's well established that OCD can manifest as fears around sexual orientation (sexual orientation ocd, formerly known as homosexual ocd). Why wouldn't it be possible for gender identity to be the focus of OCD ruminations? This article makes so many points to think about. Change "sexual orientation" to "gender identity" or "transgender" or change "anxiety" and "attraction" to "dysphoria" and "euphoria" and see how familiar it is. Imagine if your "compulsive rituals" are affirmed, celebrated, and even enshrined into law. Imagine if everywhere you turn you see things encouraging you to engage in your anxious questioning?
"At the core of SO-OCD is the feeling of doubt that is common in obsessive compulsive disorder. Deep down, the person with SO-OCD wonders if they are a fraud and if they have been confused about their real self all along."
"For obvious reasons, SO-OCD is extremely psychologically distressing. In an attempt to combat obsessive thoughts, people experiencing this condition develop compulsive rituals. However, no matter how hard they try to dispel the thoughts, they do not go away. And no matter how hard they try to succeed in their self-imposed rituals, such actions do not quiet the thoughts.
The obsessive thoughts associated with SO-OCD can cause confusion and fear. These thoughts can be so distressing that they shut down otherwise functioning, flourishing people."
"In people with SO-OCD, a fleeting thought of attraction can set off a cascade of doubt and terror that is not experienced by most people. Most people would dismiss the thought for what it was: just a thought.
Also confusing is the fact that arousal and anxiety feel quite similar."
https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/so-ocd
I had the same experience while in an emotionally abusive relationship -- trying to "figure it out" just messed me up worse and kept me attached. Learning about narcissism and reading accounts of other people who had experienced the same thing helped -- and letting go of "figuring it out". I was trying to understand from my worldview--a naive one- that couldn't see the love bombing etc as intentional tactics. Thanks Eliza for all you do.
Yeah, I had much the same experience and there are a lot of parallels.
Reminds me of the book and movie "Burning Bed" which I'd some related reasons to delve into recently:
Wikipedia: "The Burning Bed is both a 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty about battered housewife Francine Hughes, and a 1984 TV-movie adaptation written by Rose Leiman Goldemberg."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burning_Bed
Probably well before the time of both of you ... 😉🙂, but seems of more than passing relevance to the whole transgender phenomenon. "love-bombing" for one thing.
Some rather twisted and quite pathological psychology in all of that.
Love this! As someone who has experienced OCD, from my angle I might say: “deep introspection (rumination) is a compulsion that will only make an obsession grow.” What he did is the RP part of ERP (exposure and response prevention)- the only proven treatment for OCD.
Re the role of “deep introspection”: I’ve been wondering if it’s partly to blame.
Therapeutic discourse to “know yourself” seems nonsensical: as if you could be a stranger to yourself, as if there is a specific rock-solid self that is immutable, as if “knowing yourself” leads to happiness (rather than depression over your flaws).
And “mindfulness”: being aware of your body, thoughts, feelings might not help. I may not be objective about mindfulness because I hate it—when I’ve tried it, I experience a battle with anxious thoughts, relieved only when I get up and *do* something.
Many have pointed out that engagement with others is crucial to our mental health and yet most of the mental health discourse is about turning inward.
I wonder how to counter that.
This gender woo is just another one of those crazy things that have captured people..like the Satanic Panic, only 100 times more idiotic and much more harmful ! “ Born in the wrong body” “ assigned at birth” , etc. etc. , it’s absolutely absurd! And above all it’s LIES!
I hope this nightmare will stop, but with billions of dollars funding this insanity, I’m not sure when!
It's impossible to feel anything but compassionate towards people trapped in such a debilitating morass of doubt and anxiety... Or anything but angry towards the complacency and self-righteousness of "woke" pushers of this highly destructive cult. The insidious persuasiveness of its own incoherence exploits doubt as a fertile compost for nurturing self-destructive delusion.
Out of curosity, I took a look at the Toronto Gender Dysphoria Test:
"Based on research from University of Toronto
"Biological sex and social gender are congruent for most people, but not for everyone. A mismatch between sex and gender tends to cause distress and discomfort, which psychiatrists refer to as gender dysphoria. Those with gender dysphoria are often uncomfortable with their assigned gender and may feel disconnected from their own body. Gender dysphoria is associated with high rates of stigmatization and discrimination, resulting in a negative self-image and increased occurrence of other mental health challenges.
"Do you have gender dysphoria? For each of the following statements, indicate your level of agreement below."
The University of Toronto should be ashamed of producing such an incoherent piece of writing. Its first sentence distinguishes between "biological sex" and "social gender". But it then refers to "assigned gender" (implicitly, at birth) -- instead of OBSERVED SEX.
Thus it totally muddies the water of any coherent discourse that acknowledges any difference between sex and gender. Perhaps exactly as intended.