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gender identity disorder

in DSM–IV–TR, a disorder characterized by clinically significant distress or impairment of functioning due to cross-gender identification (i.e., a desire to be or actual insistence that one is of the other sex) and persistent discomfort arising from the belief that one’s sex or gender is inappropriate to one’s true self (see transsexualism). The disorder is distinguished from simple dissatisfaction or nonconformity with gender roles. The category gender identity disorder not otherwise specified is used to classify gender-related disorders distinct from gender identity disorder, such as gender dysphoria related to congenital intersex, stress-related cross-dressing behavior (see transvestism), or preoccupation with castration or penectomy (removal of the penis). In DSM–5, gender dysphoria entirely replaces gender identity disorder as a diagnostic class and emphasizes the clinical significance not of cross-gender identification per se but instead the possible distress arising from a sense of incongruence one may have between one’s experienced gender and one’s assigned gender.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

Down syndrome

Down syndrome

a chromosomal disorder characterized by an extra chromosome 21 and manifested by a round flat face and eyes that seem to slant (the disorder was formerly known as mongolism). Brain size and weight are below average; affected individuals usually have mild to severe intellectual disability and have been characterized as having docile, agreeable dispositions. Muscular movements tend to be slow, clumsy, and uncoordinated. In many cases, growth is stunted, the tongue is thick, and the fingers are stubby. Affected individuals may have heart defects and respiratory insufficiencies or anomalies that are often corrected during infancy by surgery. However, lifespan is reduced compared with that in the general population, and affected individuals typically show early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Down syndrome is one of the most common physiological causes of intellectual disability. Also called Langdon Down’s disease; trisomy 21. See also autosomal trisomy of group G. [described in 1866 by John Langdon Haydon Down (1828–1896), British physician]