'Case Study: Bruce /Brenda\r'

' gaucherie Study Reflection: Bruce/Brenda Gabriel R. Boynton freakish Psychology Professor Wolfson September 24, 2012 Diagnostic Overview: wind Identity Disorder (GID) is defined as: â€Å" lovesome and intractable cross enkindleual activity identification” and â€Å"persistent discomfort with his or her sex or champion of inappropriateness in the gender of that sex (DSM-IV)”. puke simply: it is a awesome inner combat between a psyche’s somatic gender, and the gender he or she identifies as. For example, a person who identifies as a boy whitethorn genuinely feel that he is, and act give care a girl.In response to those feelings, people with GID may act and/or present themselves as members of the opposite sex. The deflect may affect things such as their choice of inner partners, slicenerisms, manner, dress, as well as their own self-concept. Males with GID are often characterized by maidenlike behaviors such as: â€Å"wearing his amazeâ₠¬â„¢s clothing, dis work issueing a great involvement in girls’ toys, quickening with girls, and limning detriment over having staminate genitalia (Gooran)”.\r\nAssociated essay: spirit or Nurture: The Case of the Boy Who Became a filleIn contrast biological females with GID will well-nigh in all probability exhibit typical masculine behaviors such as: â€Å"rough (masculine) games, refusing to wear dresses, becoming very athletic and strong, and identifying more with her father (Gooren)”. â€Å"True cases of GID are sanely rare and occur in only 3 to 5 percent of the U. S. population (Meyer)”. The exact puddle of GID is unclear, how ever so â€Å"horm iodines in the womb, genes, and social and environmental factors (such as parenting) may be involved (NLM)”. Observable symptoms roughly always present in early childhood. Case History:David Reimer was born as a play off on August 22, 1969 to Ron and Janet Reimer. His given birth obse rve was Bruce; his twin br other was named Brian. Both babies were born as healthy males. When the twins were nigh 7 months old, their mother noniced that â€Å"the skin on the tip of her sons’ genus Phalluses was waterproofing over, making the act of urination particularly painful and difficult. On the advice of their doctor, Janet took the twins to the local hospital to be circumcised to correct the problem (Meyer)”. On April 27, 1966 a urologist performed the circumcision function using the unconventional method of cauterization. The number did non go as doctors had planned, and Bruce’s penis was burned-out beyond surgical repair. The doctors chose not to operate on Brian, who’s phimosis soon cleared without surgical discussion (CBS)”. So botched was the surgical procedure that the sex organ resembled a burned piece of flesh, explanation it useless as well as behaviorless. â€Å" in the end Bruce’s penis dried up and flaked asi de until there was no sign that he had ever had any sort of genital append years (Meyer)”. The pilot burner plan by doctors was to construct an artificial penis for Bruce-a procedure called a â€Å"phallic reconstruction” or â€Å"phalloplasty”.This reconstructed organ would only serve as a urine conductor, and never be unresolved of sexual function. Concerned about their sons prospects for future satisfaction and sexual function without with a penis, Ron and Janet agreed to fulfill with stool bills M. D. , at John Hopkins hospital in Baltimore to discuss any and all options. Dr. property suggested that Bruce be brocaded as though he had been born a female. â€Å"Won over by Dr. Money’s reputation, confidence, and charm the Reimers decided to go with his advice and raise their biological son Bruce- as their daughter, Brenda (Meyer)”.At the age of 22 months old, an orchiectomy was performed to remove Bruce’s’ testis. From that pane on the main focus of the Reimer’s life was to try to raise Brenda as a girl. â€Å" She was cloaked in dresses, given dolls and other feminine toys to play with, grew her hair long, and was encouraged to spend cartridge clip and bail bond with her mother and play with other little girls at school (Meyer)”. This situation, however tragic… seemed to make for a perfect case study. â€Å"What does gender mean if one male twin can be raised as a boy, while the other male twin be cuts a girl (NOVA)”?However, it quickly became patent to all(prenominal)one that Brenda was going to fight the forced femininity, desiring instead to â€Å"play with trucks and solders, getting into fights at school, and rejecting the dresses and ladylike attire. She even insisted un urinating in the standing position (Meyer)”. Years later Dr. Money published an article asserting that the experiment carried out with Brenda had been a resounding success. He wrote, †Å"the child’s behavior is so distinctly feminine like that of a little girl her age, which differs completely from the behavior of her twin brother Brian (Money)”.The case became widely know in medical checkup circles worldwide as: The John/Joan case”. At the age of 12, Brenda began a austere female hormone regimen. She began to develop breasts, hips, and an overall feminine shape. Eventually, her behavior began to conform to her physical appearance. However, this transformation did not help improve her psychological state. â€Å"Feelings persisted of being confine in her own body, eventually she becoming socially isolated and depressed (Meyer)”. Brenda began seeing a psychologist named Dr.Mary McKenty who was favored in helping her face her anxiety, depression, and confusion. after(prenominal) seeing Dr. McKenty for a few months- at the age of 14, Brenda do the decision to stop living as a female, even though she was still unaware of the passel sur rounding her gender identity issues. It was at this assign that her parents â€Å"realized that Brenda was never going to embrace her surgically reassigned sexual identity, the finally decided the eon had come for a troubling, yet inevitable confession (Meyer)”. After processing this revelation, Brenda’s decision to live as a male became concrete. She opted for testosterone sermons to masculinize her figure, and to undergo military operation to construct an artificial penis. She also changed her name from Brenda to David (Meyer)”. In no way did this mean David’s lifelong struggles were over. Multiple surgeries were needed to try and created a operation penis. Psychological issues continued to plague him as well. During this time period, â€Å"he attempted self-annihilation three times. The third- an dose of pill- left him in a coma. He vulcanized and began the long climb towards living a common life-as a man (CBS)”. David eventually met a w oman, and the cardinal fell in love. Due to the success of his operating theatre, he was able to brook sex with her, and for the first time attain a fulfilling sexual relationship. He conjoin her in September 1990. Tragically, this happiness was short lived for David. He continued to flummox from severe depression, â€Å"which deepened markedly when his equal twin Brian, killed himself in the spring of 2002 by an o.d. of anti-depressants. David later became unemployed and was conned out of $65,000 by a scam artist. All of this contributed to marital problems, and on may 2, 2004, his wife suggested they separate (Meyer)”.David Reimer committed suicide on May 4, 2004. He was 38 years old. compend: The case of Bruce/Brenda is unique among GID cases in that its cause is not a mystery. David Reimer was born a male, in every sense of the word. â€Å"The origin of his disoblige was in the environmental efforts to raise him as a female and not his true biological sex (Mey er)”. The damage through to him physically, mentally, and emotionally is almost uncomprehend able. Although his parents seemed to have had his best interest at heart, it is clear that the decisions made in his behalf were at times misguided, and certainly not the right ones for him.Stressors in his later life such as the suicide of his twin, the loss off income and money, as well as the deterioration of his marriage, likely may have been decorous to push many to their breaking point. It is tragic that David prove to be one of those many. From the Biological perspective- behavior, personality, and presumably gender are seen as products of genes and other biological processes. From this theory, a person is not born as a blank slate…ready to be work by their parents, doctors, or surroundings.David Reimer seems to prove the validity to this perspective. The longing to live as a man was so strong, that he came to the conclusion he needed to as early on as age 14. I can on ly imagine the feelings he see when he learned the truth of his past. The validation moldiness have been equal parts: relief and frustrating. Treatments: whiz might assume the preferred treatment for an â€Å" second-rate” person with GID is psychological treatment. However, many transgender people as well as researchers support the declassification of GID as a mental disorder.There are many reasons for this: â€Å"recent medical research on the brain structures of transgender individuals has shown that some have the physical brain structures that resemble their desired sex even before hormone treatment (Hamzelou)”. â€Å"Therefore, the most widely prescribed treatment option for the disorder is sex reassignment surgery (SRS) (Meyer)”. These are the surgical procedure s used to change a person’s physical appearance ,as well as the function of their existing sexual characteristics to resemble that of the other sex.Once a diagnosis of GID has been made, r ecommendation for SRS should be base on the following strict criteria: 1. The longanimous should show evidence of stable transsexual orientation 2. The unhurried should show insight into his/her condition and should not suffer from any serious psychiatric disorder 3. The patient should be able to pass successfully as a member of the opposite sex, and there should be clear evidence of cross gender mathematical operation 4. Improvement in personal and social mathematical operation should be predicted for the individual prior to and after surgery (Benjamin, H) Personal Reflection:After reading about this man’s life, I am shamefaced that I choose his case study because it, â€Å"sounded elicit”. Tragic- doesn’t begin to describe this poor man’s circumstances. Handled correctly by his doctors and parents, he may have had a fighting chance. I have come to appreciate that this disorder, like many others, should not be taken at face value. Be it because yo u had a bad urologist, or because you were born with this disorder… more compassion for these people needs to be developed in our, as well as many other cultures. Bibliography 1. Meyer, R.G. , Weaver, C. M. : Case Studies in unnatural Behavior 9th edition 2. DSM-IV-TR 3. Cohen-Kettenis &Gooran: Transexualism: A review of etiology, diagnosis, and treatment 1999 4. The U. S. Natinal Library of Medicine (NLM) 5. CBS News: David Reimer: The boy Who Lived as a Girl July 2002 6. Cohen, A. , Sweigart, S. : Sex Unknown; NOVA, phosphate buffer solution Airdate: October 30, 2001 7. John Money: Man Woman, Boy Girl: 1972 8. Hamzelou, J: Transexual differences caught on brain scan- January 26, 1011 9. The gravel Benjamin Internatinal gender Dysmorphia association- 1985\r\n'