investigation of psychopathology and sexual characteristics in persons with F2 disorders and the syndrome of sexual dysphoria.

Subjects: Group 1: 78 patients (55 male and 23 female). Group 2 (controls): 85 persons with transsexualism (12 male and 73 female). Average age is 25,8 years.

clinical-psychopathological, sexological, statistical

In Group 1 premorbid sensitive (22,4%) and asthenoneurotic (15,8%) features seemed to prevail while in transsexuals the most common premorbid features are harmonious (53,7%) and hyperthymic (18,3%) ones. Child autistic fantasies and neurotic-like symptoms also dominated in Group 1. Only these patients had transient dysmorphophobia, vagrancy and anorexia nervosa in their past, and psychopathic-like syndrome at present (10,4%). Recurrent affective episodes and depressive disorders significantly prevailed among schizophrenic patients. In Group 1, the ideas of changing sex appeared after sensations that the body had changed and after senestho-hypochondriacal experiences. Cross-dressing and using cosmetics was already found in patients of Group 2 younger than 10 years of age. Some characteristic features of psychosexual development were found: only schizophrenic patients showed premature sexual maturation. However, this group also showed significantly disharmonious and late psychosexual development (80,6%). On the other hand, only transsexuals had disharmonious early or late somatosexual development.

The differences found between patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and sexual dysphoria and transsexuals will contribute to differential diagnosis and analysis of different pathogenetic mechanisms of “rejecting one's sex” in different mental disorders.