Is Homosexuality a Mental Disorder ?

[GreenBean]

The American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973 only after years of political pressure from gay activists. The American Psychiatric association board of trustees passed this decision followed by a statement which listed among the reasons for their decision as changing social norms and growing gay rights activism . So basically, a scientific institution was coerced into changing a scientific opinion or classification due to political pressure !

Removing homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses was not triggered by some scientific breakthrough. There was no new fact or set of facts that stimulated this major change. Rather, it was the simple reality that gay people started to kick up a fuss.

In subsequent years the APA has become so politicized , that it has lost any credibility as a Scientific organization and in the words of one former APA President it is totally "Beholden to the Gay Rights Movement"

Myself and many others , who for fear of reprisals remain silent believe that Homosexuality is and always has been a Mental Disorder and Homosexuals should not be deterred from seeking Psychological / Psychiatric Help.

What would make it a mental disorder?

A mental disorder, also called a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a mental or behavioral pattern or anomaly that causes either suffering or an impaired ability to function in ordinary life (disability), and which is not developmentally or socially normative. Mental disorders are generally defined by a combination of how a person feels, acts, thinks or perceives. This may be associated with particular regions or functions of the brain or rest of the nervous system, often in a social context. Mental disorder is one aspect of mental health. Wikipedia

Homosexual people tend to experience more mental health problems than heterosexual people, research indicates. - Dr. Apu Chakraborty of University College London, UK.

His team looked at rates of mental disorder among 7,403 adults living in the UK, whose details were obtained from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007. Rates of depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol and drug dependence were significantly higher in homosexual respondents.

Higher Risk of Mental Health Problems for Homosexuals | Psych Central

 

[Nosmo King]

If, as it is alleged, politics was behind the decision to drop homosexuality as a mental disorder, isn't politics at play in this thread? Who would want to reinstate homosexuality as a disorder? Who would benefit? And what would that benefit be? Nothing but political points scored at someone else's expense.

Remember this: laws protect the unpopular rights. Popular rights don't need such protection.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Homosexual people tend to experience more mental health problems than heterosexual people, research indicates. - Dr. Apu Chakraborty of University College London, UK.

His team looked at rates of mental disorder among 7,403 adults living in the UK, whose details were obtained from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007. Rates of depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol and drug dependence were significantly higher in homosexual respondents.

Higher Risk of Mental Health Problems for Homosexuals | Psych Central

But does that come from homosexuality, or a result of the phases one goes through before they accept themselves for what they are?
I once read about the "phases gay people go through"

1) Inactive Denial
2) Active denial (may become particularly promiscuous with the opposite sex in an attempt to deny or "cure" the feelings they have.
3) Self loathing.
4) Acceptance
5) Pride

Not sure I have that totally right, but close.
Anyone who would go through the first three stages is bound to have internal anguish and problems dealing with the disorder.

 

[GreenBean]

Homosexual people tend to experience more mental health problems than heterosexual people, research indicates. - Dr. Apu Chakraborty of University College London, UK.

His team looked at rates of mental disorder among 7,403 adults living in the UK, whose details were obtained from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007. Rates of depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobia, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and alcohol and drug dependence were significantly higher in homosexual respondents.

Higher Risk of Mental Health Problems for Homosexuals | Psych Central

But does that come from homosexuality, or a result of the phases one goes through before they accept themselves for what they are?
I once read about the "phases gay people go through"

1) Inactive Denial
2) Active denial (may become particularly promiscuous with the opposite sex in an attempt to deny or "cure" the feelings they have.
3) Self loathing.
4) Acceptance
5) Pride

Not sure I have that totally right, but close.
Anyone who would go through the first three stages is bound to have internal anguish and problems dealing with the disorder.

That's a question one of the Studies addressed attempts to explore. I recall reading something similar to what you just posted , and it was in print - not digital - I'll have to search my library later to see I can find it. But it dealt with Ex-Gay and conversion therapy and postulated that many gays do not get past the self loathing stage

Of those a percentage seek counseling - where it is available
A percentage become somebodies Bitch
A percentage remain abstinent
A percentage remain closeted and continue otherwise normal lives

 

[RosieS]

Do homophobia and transphobia arouse unfounded anxiety and stress among their practitioners?

And is it a mental defect to attempt to force others to fear those of differing sexuality?

If your answer to both questions is "yes", DING! DING! DING! you win the stuffed tiger.

Regards from Rosie

Hey wait a second. How come it can't be normal to be repulsed by homosexuality? I believe there's a much longer track record than those who think it's a phobia to not embrace it as normal.

Dunno what a track record has to do with it.

If you find homosexuality repulsive, refuse to participate.

But I doubt you ever have been invited.

It is not like pedophilia where society has a positive duty to protect children.

It is the same as heterosexuality - not anyone's business what consenting adults do in private.

So why are you repulsed by what you do not, and should not, know?

That ignorant repulsion is more than a little crazy.

Just MYOB and you will be fine.

Regards from Rosie

 

[Nosmo King]

Do homophobia and transphobia arouse unfounded anxiety and stress among their practitioners?

And is it a mental defect to attempt to force others to fear those of differing sexuality?

If your answer to both questions is "yes", DING! DING! DING! you win the stuffed tiger.

Regards from Rosie

Hey wait a second. How come it can't be normal to be repulsed by homosexuality? I believe there's a much longer track record than those who think it's a phobia to not embrace it as normal.

Why do you find homosexuality repulsive? Are you threatened by it? Why? Are you afraid it's contagious? Are you repulsed by homosexual promiscuity? Are you threated by heterosexual promiscuity? Do you have any responsibility for the actions of other consenting adults? Do you believe that homosexuality should be criminalized? What measures would you endorse to repress homosexuality? Should homosexuals be discriminated against in other fields like employment and housing and lending? What real tangible harm has befallen you due to homosexuality? Have you ever met a homosexual? Did you realize that you were meeting a homosexual at that time? Did they attack you?

 

[Iceweasel]

Dunno what a track record has to do with it.

You dunno. Really? We have all of recorded history where it was/is considered deviant but in the last 20 or less years we are told by the very vocal minority that we are phobic or deranged if we don't think it's normal. How does that not matter to you?

Why are you repulsed by what you do not, and should not, know?

That ignorant repulsion is more than a little crazy.

I'll stick with the opinions of 99.999999999999999999999999% of the rest of mankind. Thanks.

 

[GISMYS]

Don't try to play games! Sick abomination of sexual perversion is a choice,a choice to live in sin!!!

 

[Iceweasel]

Why do you find homosexuality repulsive? Are you threatened by it?

Threatened? Repulsed and threatened are two different words with very different meanings. Why a man whould choose a man's hairy ass is beyond me, I think it's foul and that's a pretty normal reaction. With or without your approval.

Do you believe that homosexuality should be criminalized? What measures would you endorse to repress homosexuality? Should homosexuals be discriminated against in other fields like employment and housing and lending? What real tangible harm has befallen you due to homosexuality? Have you ever met a homosexual? Did you realize that you were meeting a homosexual at that time? Did they attack you?

Jesus. You got your freak on but I'm the one with the problem? See a shrink.

 

[Nosmo King]

Dunno what a track record has to do with it.

You dunno. Really? We have all of recorded history where it was/is considered deviant but in the last 20 or less years we are told by the very vocal minority that we are phobic or deranged if we don't think it's normal. How does that not matter to you?

Why are you repulsed by what you do not, and should not, know?

That ignorant repulsion is more than a little crazy.

I'll stick with the opinions of 99.999999999999999999999999% of the rest of mankind. Thanks.

Back in the dark days of slavery it was posited that Blacks were not fully human beings. There was a long track record of that belief to bolster the bigots. Is this the kind of 'track record' you cling to here?

 

[Nosmo King]

Why do you find homosexuality repulsive? Are you threatened by it?

Threatened? Repulsed and threatened are two different words with very different meanings. Why a man whould choose a man's hairy ass is beyond me, I think it's foul and that's a pretty normal reaction. With or without your approval.

Do you believe that homosexuality should be criminalized? What measures would you endorse to repress homosexuality? Should homosexuals be discriminated against in other fields like employment and housing and lending? What real tangible harm has befallen you due to homosexuality? Have you ever met a homosexual? Did you realize that you were meeting a homosexual at that time? Did they attack you?

Jesus. You got your freak on but I'm the one with the problem? See a shrink.

I'm straight. And I don't see the use in repulsion. I embrace tolerance rather than blind fear and hatred. No homosexual has ever harmed me. I believe in the American principles of live and let live, personal freedom, and tolerance.

 

[aaronleland]

Don't try to play games! Sick abomination of sexual perversion is a choice,a choice to live in sin!!!

 

[Nosmo King]

Don't try to play games! Sick abomination of sexual perversion is a choice,a choice to live in sin!!!

In your opinion, is sin and unlawful behavior the same thing? Are we under some form of Christian Sharia law, or are our laws predicated on something other than religious dogma?

 

[aaronleland]

So why are you repulsed by what you do not, and should not, know?

I wouldn't use the word repulsion, as that is a little strong. Discomforted? That word I can live with. I'm am discomforted by public displays of affection in general. I understand that others may be discomforted by the image of me with another man. I can accept that. It's human nature.

 

[GISMYS]

why do you find homosexuality repulsive? Are you threatened by it?

threatened? Repulsed and threatened are two different words with very different meanings. Why a man whould choose a man's hairy ass is beyond me, i think it's foul and that's a pretty normal reaction. With or without your approval.

do you believe that homosexuality should be criminalized? What measures would you endorse to repress homosexuality? Should homosexuals be discriminated against in other fields like employment and housing and lending? What real tangible harm has befallen you due to homosexuality? Have you ever met a homosexual? Did you realize that you were meeting a homosexual at that time? Did they attack you?

jesus. You got your freak on but i'm the one with the problem? See a shrink.

i'm straight. And i don't see the use in repulsion. I embrace tolerance rather than blind fear and hatred. No homosexual has ever harmed me. I believe in the american principles of live and let live, personal freedom, and tolerance.

40 million+ dead from hiv aids and another 40million+ hiv positive and countless millions more with std's and ruined lives of shame and guilt=the price of sick abomination sexual perversion!

 

[paperview]

Ugh...this again.

Two things are absent from this APA reclassification some of the knuckle-dragging anti-homosexuals use to bolster what they think is an argument:

They apparently believe the top psychiatrists in the field were incapable of making sensible, informed decisions about an area in which they specialize and spend a great deal of time studying and interacting with patients. They have this sense professionals and doctors would not look at the science, all their data and dealings with the matter and forgo their reputations and discipline in the field to concede to noisy rabbles. The only answer for them is: those doctors must have been 'bullied.'

Also - When discussing this change in classification to “not a disorder” back in 73, what isn't discussed is why it was first classified as a disorder in the first place.

Go back into the history of the study of psychiatry and methods used back then - heck, we only have to go back a few more decades and recall for homosexuality, some forms of depression and certain maladies, they were drilling holes in people's skulls, they were taking out full sections of their brains, butchering their frontal lobes, they were attaching electric nodes to their heads and electrocuting people in attempts to cure.

The evidence was seen, eventually, this did not work. Science, of course, is a process of trial and error and learning.

It was in the 19th century homosexuality was originally put in the APA's classification as a mental illness. The 19th century. I can't help but wonder if some of these folks who so vehemently rail against homosexuality are still stuck there. The APA moved out, they didn't.

Masturbation was once classified as a disorder and a cause of mental illness.

When they changed THAT classification, I wonder how many sad souls inhaled a great sigh of relief or did they strike out at the APA for having the audacity - the sheer gall - at reclassifying what would make most of us "disordered" today.

Science. Blessed science.

 

[Nosmo King]

threatened? Repulsed and threatened are two different words with very different meanings. Why a man whould choose a man's hairy ass is beyond me, i think it's foul and that's a pretty normal reaction. With or without your approval.
jesus. You got your freak on but i'm the one with the problem? See a shrink.

i'm straight. And i don't see the use in repulsion. I embrace tolerance rather than blind fear and hatred. No homosexual has ever harmed me. I believe in the american principles of live and let live, personal freedom, and tolerance.

40 million+ dead from hiv aids and another 40million+ hiv positive and countless millions more with std's and ruined lives of shame and guilt=the price of sick abomination sexual perversion!

You might have a point if all those cases of HIV AIDS were exclusively a result of homosexual contact. But we both know the facts. AIDS in Africa is pandemic due to the lack of information, condoms and medical facilities. We also know that drugs have been developed to stem the tide of HIV AIDS, but those drugs are not widely available in the regions most adversely affected.

And you speak of "ruined lives of shame and guilt". Who is casting the shame and guilt but ardent homophobes?

 

[GISMYS]

i'm straight. And i don't see the use in repulsion. I embrace tolerance rather than blind fear and hatred. No homosexual has ever harmed me. I believe in the american principles of live and let live, personal freedom, and tolerance.

40 million+ dead from hiv aids and another 40million+ hiv positive and countless millions more with std's and ruined lives of shame and guilt=the price of sick abomination sexual perversion!

you might have a point if all those cases of hiv aids were exclusively a result of homosexual contact. But we both know the facts. Aids in africa is pandemic due to the lack of information, condoms and medical facilities. We also know that drugs have been developed to stem the tide of hiv aids, but those drugs are not widely available in the regions most adversely affected.

And you speak of "ruined lives of shame and guilt". Who is casting the shame and guilt but ardent homophobes?

now you see how wise god is god wanted you to avoid hiv aids and std's but!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[aaronleland]

 

[Nosmo King]

40 million+ dead from hiv aids and another 40million+ hiv positive and countless millions more with std's and ruined lives of shame and guilt=the price of sick abomination sexual perversion!

you might have a point if all those cases of hiv aids were exclusively a result of homosexual contact. But we both know the facts. Aids in africa is pandemic due to the lack of information, condoms and medical facilities. We also know that drugs have been developed to stem the tide of hiv aids, but those drugs are not widely available in the regions most adversely affected.

And you speak of "ruined lives of shame and guilt". Who is casting the shame and guilt but ardent homophobes?

now you see how wise god is god wanted you to avoid hiv aids and std's but!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is HIV AIDS any different from other STDs? Untreated venereal disease is fatal too. Do you suppose God had a hand in syphilis? Or are you wrapping yourself in suppositions and using God as an aegis to defend hatred?