"I am just me, although I don't know what that means." The lived experience of gender dysphoria in individuals with borderline personality disorder: Interpretative phenomenological analysis

Manifestations of both borderline personality disorder and gender dysphoria are associated with high prevalence of suicidality, depression as well as the fear of rejection. Although the prevalence of borderline personality disorder among transgender and gender diverse people is high, the relationship between those two phenomena have not yet been fully described. A number of existing studies have focused on their connection through theory of minority stress and diagnostic bias, however, to date, no research has been conducted to closely examine the subjective and lived experience of this population. Therefore, the aim of this diploma thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of experience of people with diagnosed borderline personality disorder who also have subjective experience with gender dysphoria. The theoretical part contextualizes the topics of borderline personality disorder, gender identity and gender dysphoria within the framework of lived experience and diagnostic criteria. It also summarizes the recent research about their mutual interaction. The empirical part is based on qualitative research using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The aim was to explore the lived experience of people with borderline personality disorder and subjective experience of gender dysphoria and...