If a physically healthy child with an eating disorder says they're too fat or too thin, what do you say? "No you're not, you're perfect as you are." If a physically healthy child with gender dysphoria says they're the opposite sex, what do you say?
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Depending... If the child goes to therapy and says they think they're too fat, as a therapist, I wouldn't negate their experience. Rather, I explore what gives them that perception, what factors plays out, etc. In therapy, we don't try to "fix" people's perception of themselves.
I'd like to think that if an anorexic child went to therapy thinking they're obese, that the therapist would fix said child's perception of themselves to see they're not what they think they are.
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Yes, anorexics see a very distorted vision of themselves in the mirror. I had that for 10+ years. I see photos of my gaunt malnourished self from back then and wish I’d had a decent therapist who took the approach you’re suggesting
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I hope you've made a full recovery <3
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And anorexia is a serious condition that is different from the 1st question you asked: "perfectly healthy child". Anorexia can cause a lot of damage and lead to death. My response was to your initial question. Please also don't compare anorexia to gender dysphoria.
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I acknowledge they're different conditions, but you must see some similarity? A person sees themself one way (weight/sex) but is actually not that, and needs help realising that. It's a complicated issue to tackle with Twitter character limitations, but I hope my point was clear
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One would hope they would, but also they would know that first you have to walk in someone's shoes to see where they have come from.
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