Is now the time to reasses my identity?
For context, I had thought about being trans for years before my psychosis. I started my transition almost a year ago. A few months into it, I started smoking weed as I moved to a city where it was legal. I ended up at the end of my psychosis in jail after getting a felony charge with an officer and I barely escaped a sentence thanks to leaving my psychosis after being sent to a state hospital.
For the condition I was in, I am tremendously lucky to be recovering. I have even weaved off antipsychotics without much problem. But all of sudden I am questioning my decision to transition. I am having second thoughts and am thinking to just be non-binary without hormones. I still feel I am gender fluid but I am now having feelings to do it in a different way. I don't know if its just the depression from being so fresh off a psychosis that is making me feel unsatisfied with myself or if there is an actual shift in how I see myself. Is detransition too big of a decision for someone in such an early stage of their recovery? A lot of my psychosis was about my sexuality and gender just in a more exagerated way. I feel the sudden experience of being trans without the euphoria or joy is making me want to change course. Maybe I'm hoping to feel freer by not having to worry about passing or being feminine enough. It's just confusing because I wanted to transition long before my psychosis and now I'm just not excited about it anymore. I feel I am in a purgatory stage with my gender and the numbness is making it hard for me to know what I truly want. I've been looking at pictures of myself before I transitioned and started contemplating whether I would feel less dysphoria if I just went off estrogen.
Did anybody experience anything similar? Should I wait to see if I return to my sense of identity of being trans. I'm scared the emptiness I feel rn is not helping me in making a decision that could change the trajectory of my life. For now I am just slowing down my transition. Some days I don't want to take my medication and other days I do. Are there any queer or trans people on this subreddit whose gender identity shifted after their psychosis? I feel really lost right now. The thought of stopping sometimes makes me feel like I'm releasing a burden and other times I feel I might just be overcomplicating my life by bringing this into my recovery. Like I never felt comfortable about reversing to a more masculine body and face until now. I also have been wanting to go back to living in the Arabic speaking country I lived in 2 years ago. I always wanted to go back and live there long term and I know that being non-binary without taking hormones would make that so much more possible. I know my grief about feeling so distant from land, culture, heritage, and honestly the genocide contributed to my breakdown. The only reason I left was to start my transition. I really feel uncertain about my gender, my future, and my passions.
Posted Apr 1, 2026, 5:53 AM UTC