This story is from the comments by /u/NeurologyDivergent that are listed below, summarised with AI.
User Authenticity Assessment: Not Suspicious
Based on the provided comments, the account "NeurologyDivergent" appears authentic and not a bot. There are no serious red flags suggesting it's fake.
The user demonstrates:
- Consistent, nuanced personal experiences with dysphoria, desisting, and self-acceptance.
- A clear, multi-faceted worldview that is critical of affirmation-only care and censorship but also shows compassion for individuals.
- A natural, varied writing style with personal anecdotes, advice, and responses to others that evolve over time.
- A passionate but measured tone that aligns with the expected perspective of a desister who is critical of certain medical practices and community behaviors.
The account exhibits the depth and inconsistency of a real person engaging with a complex and personal topic.
About me
I was born female and felt pressured to transition after joining an activist group in college, but it never felt right. My body dysphoria was intense, but I realized it was rooted in society's narrow expectations for women, not my actual female body. I overcame it by reframing my thoughts through exercise and mental tricks, learning to appreciate my form instead of fighting it. I never medically transitioned and am so glad I didn't. I'm now a confident woman who defines femininity for myself, finding true freedom in self-acceptance.
My detransition story
My journey with gender has been long and complicated, but I’ve found a place of peace. I was born female, and for a long time, I didn’t feel like I fit the idea of what a woman was supposed to be. I felt more like a man on the inside because people always told me I acted like one. In college, I started exploring my gender more seriously. I had a lot of fun with drag and loved playing with masculine and feminine presentation. I’d wear mini-skirts with my hairy legs and enjoy the confusion it caused. But I also joined a trans activist group, and that’s where things got confusing. The group was very insistent that if I had dysphoria, the only real solution was to medically transition with hormones and surgery. I felt pressured to think that way, but something about it never felt completely right to me.
I experienced significant dysphoria, especially when my breasts developed in college. It felt like my body wasn't my own. I looked in the mirror and didn't recognize the person staring back. For a while, I thought about top surgery. If it had been as easily available then as it seems to be now, I might have gone through with it. I was depressed and vulnerable. But I started to question it. I realized that a big part of my discomfort came from society’s narrow ideas about how women should act and look. The media I grew up with showed women as passive or just sidekicks to men, and I hated that. I felt like I had to escape being a woman because being a woman seemed inferior.
I found that a lot of my mental struggles, including depression and anxiety, were helped immensely by things like intense exercise, yoga, and meditation. Instead of changing my body, I started working on changing my mindset. I developed a mental trick that really worked for me. When I felt dysphoric, I’d look in the mirror and think, "If I were actually a man who found himself in a woman's body, I'd be thrilled! I'd get to have boobs!" I’d literally grab my breasts and think how lucky I was to have them. It sounds silly, but it helped me reframe my body as something to enjoy and explore, not something that was wrong. I started to see that my body wasn't the problem; the problem was trying to force myself into a box.
I never went on hormones or had any surgeries. I’m glad I didn’t. I’m now comfortable identifying as a woman, but I define what that means for me. I can be a woman who is strong, who doesn’t wear makeup, who acts in ways people might call "masculine," and that’s fine. Women are like me because I am one. I don’t regret not transitioning medically. I think I would have regretted it deeply because it wouldn’t have solved the underlying issues, which were more about self-acceptance and societal pressure than my actual body. I benefited from therapy that wasn’t just about affirming a trans identity but about really digging into my feelings. I also had a strong distrust of the medical experimentation on children, which solidified my belief that we need to be very careful with permanent changes.
My thoughts on gender now are that it’s largely a performance. We all wear costumes. The clothes, the mannerisms—they don’t define who you are inside. You don’t have to change your body to be yourself. True freedom comes from accepting yourself and finding joy in the body you have. I’m attracted to women, and that also played a role in learning to appreciate my own female form. My journey was about realizing that transition isn’t a magic fix. For me, the path was to stop trying to become someone else and start embracing who I already am.
Here is a timeline of my journey based on my experiences:
| Age | Event |
|---|---|
| Teenage Years | Felt disconnected from stereotypical femininity. Felt I acted "like a man" based on comments from others. |
| College Age (approx. 18-22) | Explored gender expression through drag and mixed presentation. Joined a trans activist group. Experienced significant body dysphoria with breast development. Considered but rejected medical transition after feeling pressured by the group. |
| Mid-20s | Left the trans activist group. Began intensive exercise, yoga, and meditation. Developed mental reframing techniques to overcome dysphoria. |
| 26-27 | Reached a turning point in self-acceptance. Became comfortable identifying as a woman on my own terms. |
| Present | Fully comfortable in my body as a female. Believe gender is a social performance and that self-acceptance is key. |
Top Reddit Comments by /u/NeurologyDivergent:
In the article 'professionals' are quoted staying that being trans isn't a mental health concern. There is a logical issue there, because if it isn't a mental health concern, then why would a teenager need medical intervention to improve their mental health?
You can't say it isn't a mental health issue and then turn around and use improving people's mental health as the primary reason for pushing surgery.
Not logical at all.
Pain.
Pain is what is going on.
People are in pain and they are looking for an out, and the affirmation only methodology of transitioning offers a false promise that being trans will solve all the pain and all the problems, all you have to do is drastically alter yourself and turn into a different person rather than taking the time and work to realize that happiness is not external.
Transitioning is not the magic pill that is being promised. It doesn't solve the pain, it just masks it under physical trauma.
There is a lot to unpack here. Yes, as you stated, you should go to therapy.
Estrogen isn't a medication for aggression. Self awareness, meditation, and a physical art form such as martial arts, yoga, marathons, etc are what you use to 'medicate' aggression. Go hike a mountain.
The only people who would label you a misogynist for detransitioning are toxic people. People who care about you and support you will not label you for doing so.
Testosterone is not inherently ugly. Masculinity is not inherently ugly. Men can be beautiful.
There is a lot of self hatred in this post and it centers around the concept of privilege. Again, as you stated, it is important for you to talk to a professional and pick up a strong physical hobby because there is a lot going on in your head and you need to work both your body and your mind to help find the path forward that best suits you.
You are a normal person.
It is normal to be confused, to not like traditional gender roles, to not feel like you belong to one because it doesn't fit who you are inside, even if it happens to match your genitalia. That is completely normal. Frankly I think most people feel this way, they just block it out by drinking alcohol. Bars and clubs are filled with people who don't feel right and don't feel like they are exactly as they "should" be.
I repeat, you are a normal person, but instead of blocking out those feelings you leaned into them and went the other direction of trying to change yourself into what you thought you should be.
Trans people do not deserve to be treated with violence. You don't need to "turn back" in your mind, you need to figure out who you are and find your balance with a definition that fits your inner self.
If the definition doesn't exist, create it.
If you hate being trans, you aren't trans. If you hate being a woman, then don't be that either. Figure out a word that makes warmth blossom in your chest and leads your thoughts towards happiness. Don't accept anything less. Whatever you settle on, know that you don't have to physically change yourself (with the exception of healthy exercise) to get there. You are beautiful/handsome and deserving of love just the way you are, no matter what that state of being is in this moment.
This advice is not taking into consideration the society you are existing in nor the impact of presenting different ways in that society. If your society is hostile to you, know that it is perfectly okay to wear a costume to protect your physical safety. You don't have to be open and honest to people who are going to shit on you.
Well of course it doesn't make them disappear. The point of keeping trans kids from medicine isn't to stop them from being trans, it is to stop them from participating in serious experimental medicine that has long lasting and potentially traumatic effects that they can't consent to because children can't consent.
I repeat, children can't consent.
They shouldn't be experimented on because they don't fit into extremely restrictive ideas of gender normity.
These children should be celebrated for their differences, not drugged and experimented on like lab rats by adults.
If you were 12, and had sex that you didn't want to have, that was not sex, that was rape.
You should have been protected. You should have been loved. You should have been guided. You are worthy of all those things. Children deserve to be protected and the fact that you were not is not your fault.
When I was in my darkest state, what helped me was the knowledge that those dark feelings can be transmuted into fuel for creations. With constant effort, pain can be mulched into the rich soil where beauty can bloom.
You have so much time ahead of you to learn to work with your pain, to churn it up and figure out how to use it so that it serves you. Art, writing, music, performance, construction, woodworking - creation. Create things. Find things to create that speak to your soul, work on creating them and funnel your pain into that.
It is time to take up yoga or a similar movement practice that helps quiet your mind so your soul can speak to you and guide the way.
I never had a negative view of being a girl imposed on me and I also didn't get the feeling that boys were being treated better than girls.
So it is pervasive. The majority of media out there shows it is better to be a boy than a girl, because it shows men having the fun adventures, the fun personality traits, the fun friend group, etc. It isn't all media or all characters, but it is enough that it has an impact. Mario goes on the cool adventure to save the Princess, the Princess waits around in a shitty situation to be saved.
Even 'cool' Princesses like Leia from Star Wars still end up kidnapped, still end up with their romantic relationships being forceful, unpleasant things where the guy repeatedly grabs and forces himself on them while she repeatedly says no. It is only recently where media is starting to portray female characters as the cool ones who get to do the fun things. If you are an adult now, you grew up surrounded by media that told you it sucks to be female because all you are is a plot device for someone else's fantasy.
It can also come from other kids, not just adults or media. For example, when I was a child playing with boys, playing a make believe go back in time and fight dinosaurs, the boys told me that girls didn't fight dinosaurs.
Those types of images, stories, comments are all information that adds up over time. Just because no one sat over you yelling that girls are dumb, weak, and subserviently waiting for a man to rescue them doesn't mean you weren't inundated with that messaging.
I was one of the people who posted about twox and I'm glad you are expressing yourself on this topic. I didn't know about other subs getting banned.
My post about twox was specifically because I was feeling frustrated at the extreme censorship. I come from the background of being in a trans activism/discussion club, and I was feeling not good feels and I needed help talking it out. I posted here, instead of twox, because of twox extreme censorship. Posting here allowed me to receive balanced feedback and it helped a lot deal with my feelings in a healthy way.
I hope that helps understand at least one of the intentions behind a post like that.
I want to make sure this community continues to be a safe space where difficult topics are open to discussion.
To add to another posters comment, you can report people anonymously. You don't have to give your name or contact info, though it is likely they won't be able to persue anything without it, but you are able to go on most police websites and give anonymous tips.
If you need to do something but don't want to expose yourself, just figure out where he lives and post an anonymous tip about him being a pedo rapist drug dealer to the local police station.
It may not come to anything but it will give you an action you can take to help with what you are experiencing.
Well of course and that is what made it great.
The problem is isn't open to everyone anymore. It is open only to people who share an extremely narrow viewpoint. If you contradict that viewpoint or try to have a healthy discussion about the real world implications, you're banned.
In a women's forum:
You should be able to discuss the fear of having individuals in a women's bathroom with aggression issues and a penis without being banned.
You should be able to say you aren't interested in having sex with someone because of their gender identity or genitalia without being banned.
You should be able to say you regret having major surgery, or hormones, or that you suffered abuse which led you to mental health issues, and discuss how that may have impacted gender identity.
These things aren't bad things to discuss. They are good things. Talking through issues like those can only strengthen the trans community. Cancelling or blocking anyone who wants to talk about them only pushes more people away rather than causing them to embrace the community.