LGBTAitP #28: Come Taste the Rainbow!

[Asta Kask]

Serps, they're all what's called anchored Likert scales. So it's natural that they would seem similar.

Hmm...So, going by your scale, I'd put myself at a 2 or 3 generally, but I can spike all the way up to 4 or 5 on occasion.

I shouldn't have called it a scale, it's an Item on a scale. A scale can be comprised of several items (for instance, ten for the MADRS which is a depression rating scale).

I would call those spikes dysphoric crises and I'd like an Item for them as well.

Define PROBLEMS. Do you mean it interferes in some notable* way, or does just affecting your state of mind and happiness count?

*I have no idea what word I want here, but this isn't really it.

I mean interferes with your life in some significant way - there would be other Items for things like Inner Tension and Thoughts about Self-Mutilation. Here's the Item Inner Tension, to give you a feeling of what a fully developed Item looks like.

Inner Tension Representing feelings of ill-defined discomfort, edginess, inner turmoil, mental tension mounting to panic, dread and
anguish.
0 - Placid. Only fleeting inner tension
1
2 - Occasional feelings of edginess and ill defined discomfort
3
4 - Continuous feelings of inner tension, or intermittent which the patient can only master with some difficulty
5
6 - Unrelenting dread or anguish

Actually, if I was to make a Gender Dysphoria Item I'd probably start with Inner Tension and modify as needed. No need to invent the wheel twice...

You misunderstand... I keep a BED under this desk. >////////>

How many does it "sleep"?

[noparlpf]

No, don't link to that again! Not only is it really (really, really, really) sad, at least for me, but the technical and ethical discussions afterwards took up pages and pages!
Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it's not exactly something that everyone wants to get involved in.

~Phoenix~

I actually mentioned that recently too, but didn't link it. Or maybe I will mention it in a post I haven't posted yet. I don't remember.

Reminds me of the pain chart, which could also possibly be helpful:

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Welp, I've been at ten a couple of times.
Shockingly (), electrocution was only about a six, and my broken rib was about a one. Listing all my other injuries would take a long time, so let's not bother with that.

I prefer this one:

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0: Hi. I am not experiencing any pain at all. I don't know why I'm even here.

1: I am completely unsure whether I am experiencing pain or itching or maybe I just have a bad taste in my mouth.

2: I probably just need a Band Aid.

3: This is distressing. I don't want this to be happening to me at all.

4: My pain is not @!£"ing around.

5: Why is this happening to me??

6: Ow. Okay, my pain is super legit now.

7: I see Jesus coming for me and I'm scared.

8: I am experiencing a disturbing amount of pain. I might actually be dying. Please help.

9: I am almost definitely dying.

10: I am actively being mauled by a bear.

11: Blood is going to explode out of my face at any moment.

Too Serious For Numbers: You probably have ebola. It appears that you may also be suffering from Stigmata and/or pinkeye.

Source: Hyperbole and a Half

I've been at an eight on this scale. Haven't gotten around to fighting a bear yet, but I'll make sure to let you know when I hit a ten.

[MageOfCakes]

I'm just writing a secret message because all the other kids are doing it and it looks fun. I'm trying to think what else one might put into a secret message... or maybe... I should keep it secret. D:

[Lentrax]

Yeah, I've been at that twelve point a few times.
*invisible arrow*Secret message for you, sir!
It isn't something I hope to repeat, but one never knows what fate has in store for us all.

[Absol197]

I shouldn't have called it a scale, it's an Item on a scale. A scale can be comprised of several items (for instance, ten for the MADRS which is a depression rating scale).

I would call those spikes dysphoric crises and I'd like an Item for them as well.

I mean interferes with your life in some significant way - there would be other Items for things like Inner Tension and Thoughts about Self-Mutilation. Here's the Item Inner Tension, to give you a feeling of what a fully developed Item looks like.

Inner Tension Representing feelings of ill-defined discomfort, edginess, inner turmoil, mental tension mounting to panic, dread and
anguish.
0 - Placid. Only fleeting inner tension
1
2 - Occasional feelings of edginess and ill defined discomfort
3
4 - Continuous feelings of inner tension, or intermittent which the patient can only master with some difficulty
5
6 - Unrelenting dread or anguish

Actually, if I was to make a Gender Dysphoria Item I'd probably start with Inner Tension and modify as needed. No need to invent the wheel twice...

So, on this one I'd say I'm probably somewhere between 2 and 4. So, like, a 3? But once again, spikes (crises, as you call them) reach higher.

I'm just writing a secret message because all the other kids are doing it and it looks fun. I'm trying to think what else one might put into a secret message... or maybe... I should keep it secret. D:

Secret messages are fun! No one knows what we're talking about, and there's no possible way for them to find out!

...Wait...

Yeah, I've been at that twelve point a few times.
*invisible arrow*Secret message for you, sir!
It isn't something I hope to repeat, but one never knows what fate has in store for us all.

Lentrax, I hope I don't offend you, but I keep reading you as a woman. There's something about the way you post. It isn't until I look to see who is actually writing it that I realize it's you. Hopefully you don't mind, but it keeps jarring me, so I thought I'd mention it.


~Phoenix~

[Lycunadari]

*Jumps out of the closest*

HEY! Ok, now that is over with. Hiya, new here, not to the forums. Or the outside of the closet for that matter. I feel like I should say something else but can't think of anything at the moment.

Welcome!

Hi! I'm not new but I've been gone for a very long time, so it's almost like being new. We can be new together.

Welcome back!

Personal note:

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Talked to my ex today for the first time in a week and half or so I think. Went ok, still hard, but at least I got to tell her so it's a weight off my mind to a certain extent.

Still feel awful a lot of the time, but at least I had three dresses and three pairs of shoes arrive in the mail today, so that's a plus.

*hugs* That dress is beautiful!

So many people, so little time to read(especially with a computer acting up.)

So, for everyone who posted good news: Yay! I am so happy for you!
For everyone who posted bad news: *hugs, age-apporpriate beverages, and cake are also available.(taking seconds is okay, and is in fact, encouraged*

For everyone who is new: Hi! *glomp*

For the thread: *HUGS*

(and cake)

Hugs! And cake! Yay!


I think I'm now really part of the 'Q'. Q like Questioning.

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I have really no idea what my gender identity is. It is so confusing, especially the last few days. I don't feel completely neutral-unfeminine, but also not entirely female. One moment, I'm unhappy when I look into the mirror and see my female body, the next moment I don't care at all, and then again I'm happy to be a girl. But most of the time it is just really confusing.
The mental image I have of myself is constantly changing. Actually, it's more than one image. I have two or three "main images" and some other that only pop up from time to time. Most of these are clearly female, but one of the main images is one of the genderless elves from my stories...
I have no idea, who I am, what I am, and what I want. I find myself making stupid "that's so typically male, women are far superior"-jokes when I'm talking with my father, and then I'm angry at myself, because how can I make these jokes if I'm not a woman (or don't want to be one?). Then I think that maybe I'm just making all that stuff up and I'm completely 'normal', I think that if I hadn't started reading this thread (oh, and writing my stories) that I would never have thought about being anything else than cis, just because I didn't know that there was something else. But then I wouldn't sometimes see the need to dress as androgynous as possible and wouldn't feel uncomfortable in tight clothes. I wouldn't have been so rediciolously happy when my mother called me her "androgynous elf". Meh. I'm confused.

[Asta Kask]

So, on this one I'd say I'm probably somewhere between 2 and 4. So, like, a 3? But once again, spikes (crises, as you call them) reach higher.

~Phoenix~

The usual procedure is to take or construct the Items you think are relevant and then put them together in a scale. You can then either add up the answers (I disagree with this) or you can look at the pattern. The latter is more correct statistics, but difficult to translate into hard and fast rules for treatment. Not everyone who has, say, gender identity disorder, will have all Items (in fact, this is impossible in some cases - you may have Items for Increased and Decreased Sleep, for instance). But if you have a well-defined condition, there will be a loose core that can be identified. These findings can be used to refine the definition found in e.g. DSM-V or ICD-10.

Again, our work on Astheno-Emotional Disorder (AED) - a profound fatigability that can appear after brain damage. We began with a hypothesis that three Items were central, but had to drop one and add one after we analyzed the results of our scale. So our definition of AED was changed by empirical evidence, and the result was a scale that has been published and is in use in some Swedish hospitals (and we have treatment studies going on as well).

[Heliomance]

I might try out a female body to see what it's like, but you couldn't get me into a miniskirt.

But miniskirts are fun, they feel delicious

A good example of this for me is the word "retarded". A distasteful word to me at the best of times but when used as a derogatory adjective, I do call my friends on its usage. I guess its because I do occasionally work with Downs Syndrome kids and folks with similar conditions. If my time on the internet has taught me anything, it's that there's a wide and colourful world of derogatory adjectives that can be used, without the need to use ones with unpleasant social stigma attached. ^_^

I actually use retarded quite a lot, I should possibly try and moderate that. I generally use it when referring to courses of action that seem profoundly ill-advised and/or requiring of impaired cognitive function - "that's a retarded idea".

Well, at least you are still able to talk to her and stuff, and it didn't go horribly. On a lighter note, My phone's text ringtone is George Takei's "Ooooh Myyyy", and it went off right as that dress you linked finished loading. Appropriate, because that is what I thought when I saw it

I briefly thought I should set that as my text tone - then realised how embarrassing it could be if it went off in a lecture!

[Lentrax]

It doesn't bug me at all, Phee. I've bounced between the two more than a few times. Right now, I have to be the 'big, strong, manly-man' type at work, but most mornings I get home, and I just 'femme' out when I get home. With the kids in school, I can relax more. I do mani/pedis for my wife, I try to talk with her about how I feel, she gets wierded out a little...

Good times.

But, seriously, on any kind of gender scale I would say I am a good solid, somewhere in between. Yeah, right there. No, a bit more to the left. Ish. And one step forward.

[noparlpf]

But miniskirts are fun, they feel delicious

I feel exposed wearing shorts as a guy. So I'll have to say that "delicious" is subjective here.

[Lentrax]

I feel exposed wearing shorts as a guy. So I'll have to say that "delicious" is subjective here.

So I take that would be a 'No' to kilts as well?

[noparlpf]

So I take that would be a 'No' to kilts as well?

The manliness outweighs the feelings of exposure.

[Lentrax]

I see. I see.

So if you could, are you saying you would be one to run around with a claymore, yelling out, "You cannae take my freedom!"

[noparlpf]

I see. I see.

So if you could, are you saying you would be one to run around with a claymore, yelling out, "You cannae take my freedom!"

I have no kind of Scottish accent, terrible or otherwise. So no. But if I did, maybe.
(Also I'd prefer a bludgeoning weapon like a tetsubo, or a halberd if I need something longish. Knives are more stylish, though. And in the ridiculously abstracted world of boffing (not to be mistaken for the other kind) I'm pretty good with two knives.)

[MageOfCakes]

Secret messages are fun! No one knows what we're talking about, and there's no possible way for them to find out!

...Wait...

Well if they find out we'll just have to initiate them into our secret message club.

[Lix Lorn]

I mean interferes with your life in some significant way - there would be other Items for things like Inner Tension and Thoughts about Self-Mutilation. Here's the Item Inner Tension, to give you a feeling of what a fully developed Item looks like.

Oh. Not many problems then.

Inner Tension Representing feelings of ill-defined discomfort, edginess, inner turmoil, mental tension mounting to panic, dread and
anguish.
0 - Placid. Only fleeting inner tension
1
2 - Occasional feelings of edginess and ill defined discomfort
3
4 - Continuous feelings of inner tension, or intermittent which the patient can only master with some difficulty
5
6 - Unrelenting dread or anguish

4-5, and 6 comes up regularly.

How many does it "sleep"?

One. This bed is for hiding.

[Irish Musician]

I briefly thought I should set that as my text tone - then realised how embarrassing it could be if it went off in a lecture!

Pish, mine goes off at work all the time, and it is usually at a hilariously inappropriate moment.....which just makes it all the funnier!

So I take that would be a 'No' to kilts as well?

Oh, I love my kilt and now that it has cooled down here, I think I will be wearing it all the more often. It is all wool, so wearing it in summer here in Texas, not so much fun

The manliness outweighs the feelings of exposure.

And the freedom for certain parts outweighs the feeling of exposure for me. Of course, I have never really had a problem with....*ahem*.....exposure

~Matthew~

[Lentrax]

Of course, I have never really had a problem with....*ahem*.....exposure

~Matthew~

So, you've been exposed before, I take it?

[Irish Musician]

So, you've been exposed before, I take it?

Well, I own a kilt and go to Ren Faires....I'll let you do the math

Also, in college, my apts had a pool and were in walking range of the bars....so in the summer we tended to go back to the pool and cool off after the bars closed. And most of us tended not to wear swimsuits to the bars.....so ya know, what else were we going to do?

~Matthew~

[noparlpf]

And the freedom for certain parts outweighs the feeling of exposure for me. Of course, I have never really had a problem with....*ahem*.....exposure

~Matthew~

I actually feel less comfortable "commando" than I do in boxers. And briefs are the worst option.

[Irish Musician]

And briefs are the worst option.

I can't agree with this more. I HATE briefs, but I too don't like going commando....in pants anyway. My kilt, all kinds of hell yes to commando, but not in jeans......too much uncomfortable rubbing of jeans on skin However in my linen shorts.....those are nice and soft, so no big deal there.

~Matthew~

[noparlpf]

I can't agree with this more. I HATE briefs, but I too don't like going commando....in pants anyway. My kilt, all kinds of hell yes to commando, but not in jeans......too much uncomfortable rubbing of jeans on skin However in my linen shorts.....those are nice and soft, so no big deal there.

~Matthew~

I wear cargo pants. Cotton in that knit is better than denim for comfort, so it's not too bad if I have to go without boxers for some reason. (Like "hey guys let's randomly jump in the lake now we've finished the barbeque proper" "oh wait it's still a little light out and this is a public park maybe we can't just skinny dip" (me:) "hey guys let's never skinny dip last time was traumatic"; anyway, swimming in boxers leads to wet boxers, which are uncomfortable to wear with pants.)

[Lord Raziere]

Inner Tension Representing feelings of ill-defined discomfort, edginess, inner turmoil, mental tension mounting to panic, dread and
anguish.
0 - Placid. Only fleeting inner tension
1
2 - Occasional feelings of edginess and ill defined discomfort
3
4 - Continuous feelings of inner tension, or intermittent which the patient can only master with some difficulty
5
6 - Unrelenting dread or anguish

Actually, if I was to make a Gender Dysphoria Item I'd probably start with Inner Tension and modify as needed. No need to invent the wheel twice...

0, but occasional 2 for me.

I'm mostly ok with who I am now, its just that I don't really feel all that male and that sometimes I wonder I might be female, but mostly I'm neutral/androgynous.

[MesiDoomstalker]

I wear boxer-breifs almost exclusively. Only deviate when I want to treat my boyfriend.

[the_druid_droid]

*Jumps out of the closest*

HEY! Ok, now that is over with. Hiya, new here, not to the forums. Or the outside of the closet for that matter. I feel like I should say something else but can't think of anything at the moment.

Hi! I'm not new but I've been gone for a very long time, so it's almost like being new. We can be new together.

Welcome (back)! I'm actually pretty new around these parts myself, but everyone seems nice. I hope you enjoy your stay!

Uh. I'll tell you when I come out from under my desk.

Blushing Lixie is adorablest Lixie!

Reminds me of the pain chart, which could also possibly be helpful:

Spoiler

Show

I got up to an 8 on that once, when I had a fractured skull. Would not recommend.

The usual procedure is to take or construct the Items you think are relevant and then put them together in a scale. You can then either add up the answers (I disagree with this) or you can look at the pattern. The latter is more correct statistics, but difficult to translate into hard and fast rules for treatment. Not everyone who has, say, gender identity disorder, will have all Items (in fact, this is impossible in some cases - you may have Items for Increased and Decreased Sleep, for instance). But if you have a well-defined condition, there will be a loose core that can be identified. These findings can be used to refine the definition found in e.g. DSM-V or ICD-10.

Again, our work on Astheno-Emotional Disorder (AED) - a profound fatigability that can appear after brain damage. We began with a hypothesis that three Items were central, but had to drop one and add one after we analyzed the results of our scale. So our definition of AED was changed by empirical evidence, and the result was a scale that has been published and is in use in some Swedish hospitals (and we have treatment studies going on as well).

I take it you work in psychology/psychiatry professionally then? I'm afraid that whole field is one I largely neglected in my own studies, but it is always interesting to hear about a discipline from the source.

I see. I see.

So if you could, are you saying you would be one to run around with a claymore, yelling out, "You cannae take my freedom!"

Really, everyone should try this at least once

Well if they find out we'll just have to initiate them into our secret message club.

Initially read that as "secret massage club". Took me a second to sort that one out.

I can't agree with this more. I HATE briefs, but I too don't like going commando....in pants anyway. My kilt, all kinds of hell yes to commando, but not in jeans......too much uncomfortable rubbing of jeans on skin However in my linen shorts.....those are nice and soft, so no big deal there.

~Matthew~

Not to mention the increased fear of zipper-related complications...

*shudder*

[Coidzor]

Not to mention the increased fear of zipper-related complications...

*shudder*

Zippers are something one should have a healthy respect for, aye.

[noparlpf]

Not to mention the increased fear of zipper-related complications...

*shudder*

I've actually never had any trouble with zippers. Oddly, it's loose threads and even (TMI) my own pubes that cause me trouble sometimes. Really weird.

[Irish Musician]

Not to mention the increased fear of zipper-related complications...

I, uhhh, just threw up a little in my mouth......

[Darklady2831]

*peeks in the thread and waves* Hi everybody!

Inner Tension Representing feelings of ill-defined discomfort, edginess, inner turmoil, mental tension mounting to panic, dread and
anguish.
0 - Placid. Only fleeting inner tension
1
2 - Occasional feelings of edginess and ill defined discomfort
3
4 - Continuous feelings of inner tension, or intermittent which the patient can only master with some difficulty
5
6 - Unrelenting dread or anguish

Hmm... I'd say, usually a 2 or 3.. occasional 4 and rarely a 5 or 6.

[Lady Serpentine]

*Glomps*

Hey! It's good to have you back!