Aligning Bodies with Minds: The Case for Medical and Surgical Treatment of Gender Dysphoria

The author, a cardiologist, uses a model from cardiology to illustrate the phenomenon of a condition diagnosed by subjective symptoms, treated in the absence of identifiable "objective criteria" with relative success, with implications for the identification and management of Gender Incongruence (currently called Gender Identity Disorder). She advocates for the repositioning of this diagnosis in the medical realm rather than the psychiatric realm as part of the potential de-stigmatization of the condition. She further notes the current position of the American Medical Association confirming that appropriate medical and surgical treatment is effective in treating this condition.