Dysphorifluid describes individuals whose experience of gender dysphoria fluctuates or changes over time. Gender dysphoria is the discomfort or distress a person feels when their gender identity doesn’t align with their assigned gender at birth. In dysphorifluid individuals, the intensity or focus of this dysphoria changes. One day, they may feel intense physical dysphoria related to their body, while on another day, their dysphoria may shift to social aspects, like being misgendered. This concept captures the fluid nature of their dysphoria and how it can fluctuate in response to different triggers or emotions.
Imagine someone who experiences gender dysphoria, but instead of it being a constant feeling, it changes in intensity and focus over time. Some days, they might feel deep discomfort with certain parts of their body, like their voice or chest, but on other days, this feeling is less intense, and instead, they feel more upset by how others perceive or address them. It’s like carrying a backpack that sometimes feels light and other times feels overwhelmingly heavy. For a dysphorifluid person, this fluctuation means that their gender dysphoria is not always the same; it moves and shifts depending on the day, their environment, or how they’re feeling emotionally. One week, they might feel mostly fine physically but struggle with how they’re treated in social situations, while the next week, their physical discomfort might dominate their experience. Being dysphorifluid is like being on a seesaw, where one side is physical dysphoria and the other side is social dysphoria, and the weight between the two shifts unpredictably. This fluidity in dysphoria allows them to better understand and navigate their feelings, knowing that their discomfort will change and require different coping strategies depending on the day.