Gender Anxiety

There are many types of anxiety disorders and some are caused by issues involving gender. Gender anxieties include gender anxiety disorder, gender identity disorder and gender role conflicts. Society and cultures set certain gender expectations, and when people feel they can't meet them, some experience high stress levels that start to dominate their lifestyle.

Gender Anxiety

• Gender anxiety disorder is defined by Laurie Essig of True/Slant as "obsessive concern of policing the boundary between 'male' and 'female' even in young children." This means that gender anxiety disorder isn't only a problem suffered by individuals, but moreso by a society that has exaggerated concerns about things such as males wearing pink and females sporting short hair. The issue became news during a concern over a certain celebrity's female child apparently crossing the line of "tomboy." Essig writes that it is perverse of society to consider the idea of "tomboy" as a crisis. It should be socially OK for a female to wear short hair without gender stress becoming an issue. Instead, "tomboy" is considered evidence of gender identity disorder.

Gender Identity Disorder

• The description of gender identity disorder goes beyond the label of "tomboy." It is includes instances when a person struggles with their biological gender and their mental gender and mentally identify themselves as being of the opposite sex. There are two things which must be present for a diagnosis: the insistence that you are actually the opposite sex and the clinical evidence of discomfort with your birth sex.

  According to Psych Central, examples of discomfort include being disgusted with your sex organs, and a desire for surgery to remove or change the sex organs. People with gender identity disorder may also suffer from depression, lack of self concept, loneliness and emotional distress. Impairments in social and occupational settings are often present as well.

Gender Role Conflicts

• Gender roles are set by factors including tradition, religion, society and culture. Most roles are instilled in individuals as children. As individuals mature, conflict develops when there's a belief that they are not meeting these roles. Traditional masculine roles include assertiveness, independence and ambition, while females are seen as passive, dependence and pretty. The "Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders" explains that women may experience anxiety when they don't feel pretty enough according to society's standards. This anxiety may lead to other problems such as eating disorders. Anxiety in a male may develop when he believes he does not perform well sexually or if he feels inferior to another. This stress may lead to substance abuse or denial.

Sex Differences

• Neither females nor males have a higher risk for developing a gender anxiety disorder. Both are susceptible. Gender stresses are inevitable, but there are coping strategies that can help. Females may seek advice, pray or vent. Men generally turn to physical releases such as working out or playing a sport. If coping mechanisms don't work and overwhelming anxiety occurs, women become prone to developing depression and men are more prone to substance abuse.

Symptoms/Relief

• Symptoms of anxiety disorders in general include heart palpitations, fatigue, chest pain, headaches, trembling, nausea and stomach aches. Relief from these symptoms may come from a form of treatment including counseling and/or medication depending on the severity of the disorder. Treatment may take years as there is no permanent cure for an anxiety disorder.