I have severe depression at this point. Not my words but in the opinion of my therapist, counselors, parents, and the treatment programs that I am in. I also have found that I have gender dysphoria. It finally made sense to me why I sometimes woke up in the morning just loathing my body and feeling so trapped inside of it. That awful feeling of just wanting to tear my skin off because of the foreignness I feel in my body. My extreme discomfort with my chest and curves and lack of masculinity. But Im having trouble expressing that I have a problem with gender to people. Well specifically my family. I desperately need their support and understanding because I am so unsure as to how I feel. I know I dont like being a girl but I dont feel like a boy either. My parents might have kind of got the point but my siblings and friends think that I am just a butch or very masculine lesbian and do not believe me about my issue with gender. How can I explain how I feel so that they understand that this is a gender issue and it is separate from my sexuality?
Does your therapist know? Can you ask them for a way to explain it so others will understand? Some analogy maybe? Probably one of the hardest things to explain but I'd hope a therapist could help you work it out.
Some counselors/therapist that deal with gender dysphoria has articles and references about this type of dysphoria so you can give it to your friends and family. Also the therapist might have articles/references about the process of becoming who you truly are. Hope this helped a little, but i think the best route is to give them written information about what you are going through, to educate your friends.