Is gender dysphoria a mental illness​? Gender anxiety is not a mental illness. Gender anxiety is a strong feeling that a person's actual gender is different from the biological sex assigned at birth.

Prior to 2013, gender anxiety was commonly referred to as “gender identity disorder,” and people with anxiety faced significant challenges in achieving equality and social acceptance due to their discrepancy with “gender norms.

In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) recognized in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) that gender anxiety disorder only becomes a disorder when it actually affects a person's health or well-being, and renamed it “gender anxiety disorder”.

Adults with gender dysphoria may feel uncomfortable receiving treatment based on their socially assigned gender, and they may adopt the behaviors, clothing, and conduct with which they are most identified.

A 2011 study conducted by the Institute of Medicine concluded that the social exclusion of people with gender anxiety is having a devastating effect on their physical and mental health. For example, the study found that substance abuse, suicide attempts, HIV infections, and other medical problems are far more prevalent among transgender and transsexual people than in the general population.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) prohibits any form of discrimination or harassment against individuals in the workplace on the basis of gender identity, including transgender identity or sexual orientation. In addition, the U.S. Department of Defense now allows transgender and lesbian/gay individuals to serve openly in all branches of the military.

A growing body of clinical research is exploring technologies for transgender people seeking treatment and ways to prevent discrimination and harassment.