World Health Organization is strongly considering removing transgender identity from its global list of mental disorders. WHO may declassify transgender identity as a mental illness when it releases its updated list of global health conditions. Gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder was first listed as a clinical diagnosis in 1980 when it was included in another set of mental illness guidelines called Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This follows a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry revealing that the classification of transgender identity as a mental disorder created stigma and cruel treatment against the transgender community, leading to psychological distress and dysfunction. The researchers noted that distress related to gender identity was very common, but not universal, as only 83 per cent of respondents admitted to experiencing this.

Source: The Star August 03, 2016 15:00 UTC