In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association added “Gender Identity Disorder” to its third volume of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). Affecting approximately 0.014 percent of transgender persons, gender identity disorder or gender dysphoria is defined by the DSM as persistent cross-gender identification coupled with clinically significant distress in social, occupational or other important areas in functioning.
Common complications of the disorder include depression, emotional distress, isolation and suicide. Although the number of transgender persons in the United States is difficult to measure, data compiled by the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, estimates that 1.4 million adults in the United States identify as transgender—meaning that as many as 20,000 Americans are struggling with gender identity disorder, and likely many more who do not report or self identify as transgender.
