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Transvestic disorder

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Transvestic disorder
Other namesTransvestic fetishism
A transvestite in black stockings.
A transvestite in black stockings.
SpecialtyPsychiatry
SymptomsBeing sexually aroused by the act of cross-dressing and experiencing significant distress or impairment because of one’s behavior[1]

Transvestic disorder (formerly transvestic fetishism) is a psychiatric diagnosis applied in some countries to people who are sexually aroused by the act of cross-dressing and experience significant distress or impairment – socially or occupationally – because of their behavior.[2]

In countries which have adopted the World Health Organization standard ICD-11 CDDR, it is not a diagnosis, but has been deprecated in favor of the more general "Paraphilic disorder involving solitary behavior or consenting individuals".[3]

In countries, such as the United States, which use the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5, it is categorized as a specific paraphilic disorder.[4] It differs from cross-dressing without distress or impairment, or for entertainment or other purposes that do not involve sexual arousal.

Diagnosis

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DSM-5

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According to DSM-IV, transvestic disorder (called fetishism at that time) was limited to heterosexual men; however, the DSM-5 does not have this restriction, and opens it to women and men with this interest, regardless of their sexual orientation.[2] It is, however, usually documented in men.[5]

There are two key criteria before a psychiatric diagnosis of "transvestic disorder" is made:[1]

  1. Individuals must be sexually aroused by the act of cross-dressing.
  2. Individuals must experience significant distress or impairment – socially or occupationally – because of their behavior.

Criticism of DSM-5-TR

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An academic criticism says that the main cause of distress is not within the individual but "external invalidation, systemic stigma, and structural barriers" from society.[6]

References

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  1. 1 2 American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  2. 1 2 "Paraphilic Disorders Fact Sheet" (PDF). dsm5.org. May 15, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Paraphilic disorder involving solitary behaviour or consenting individuals".
  4. ↑ American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing. pp. 685–705. ISBN 978-0-89042-555-8.
  5. ↑ Cowen P, Harrison P, Burns T (2012). Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. OUP Oxford. p. 373. ISBN 978-0191626753.
  6. ↑ Meneguzzo, Paolo (November 2025). "Between Flesh and Identity: Embodied Selves in Disembodied Systems". Archives of Sexual Behavior. 54 (10): 3869–3872. doi:10.1007/s10508-025-03314-z. ISSN 1573-2800. PMC 12753564. PMID 40993270.
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