Homosexuality: The Mental Illness That Went Away

[standalone09]

"According to the American Psychiatric Association, until 1974 homosexuality was a mental illness.

 

Freud had alluded to homosexuality numerous times in his writings, and had concluded that paranoia and homosexuality were inseparable. Other psychiatrists wrote copiously on the subject, and homosexuality was “treated” on a wide basis.

 

There was little or no suggestion within the psychiatric community that homosexuality might be conceptualized as anything other than a mental illness that needed to be treated. And, of course, homosexuality was listed as a mental illness in DSM-II.

 

Then in 1970 gay activists protested against the APA convention in San Francisco. These scenes were repeated in 1971, and as people came out of the “closet” and felt empowered politically and socially, the APA directorate became increasingly uncomfortable with their stance.

 

In 1973 the APA’s nomenclature task force recommended that homosexuality be declared normal.

 

The trustees were not prepared to go that far, but they did vote to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses by a vote of 13 to 0, with 2 abstentions. This decision was confirmed by a vote of the APA membership, and homosexuality was no longer listed in the seventh edition of DSM-II, which was issued in 1974."

 

 

[oOtailspinOo]

How Britain drove its greatest genius Alan Turing to suicide... just for being gay

Edited July 6, 2014 by oOtailspinOo

[IceDolphin]

What are you trying to debate? If you're debating whether Homosexuality is normal or good, in my opinion it is, I mean, gay men are awesome, for example Tyler Oakley.

 

I'm not sure why it would be considered a mental illness, as it is just a person's preference of which gender they are sexually attracted to. We're in 2014 and gay marriage is still not legal in some countries.

 

I am going to be honest here, you used a lot of fancy words, and I have no clue what half of them meant. I like getting into debates, not arguments, but you never did state your opinion on the subject, however I did skim through it a bit.

[Oubliette]

A lot of things have been classed as mental illness that really weren't. Treated with a whole host of things from mildly amusing to absolutely horrifying, these treatments were still considered 'successful' despite users not really understanding how they worked or how they directly impacted the supposed illness they were treating.

 

That doesn't mean any of those things were actually illnesses or that any of those 'treatments' were even humane let alone useful. I don't really see a debate on the validity of someone elses sexual orientation as even mildly viable.

[standalone09]

Im from Serbia what opinion can i have... http://www.whatsonsanya.com/news_images/1756_1.jpg

 

Seriously guys dont expect any personal words from me on the subject my english is horrible... :laugh:

Edited July 6, 2014 by standalone09

[oOtailspinOo]

There is a long history between Psychology and Homosexuality going back to the 1952 DSM. Modern attitudes toward homosexuality have religious, legal, and medical underpinnings. Before the High Middle Ages, homosexual acts appear to have been tolerated or ignored by the Christian church throughout Europe. Beginning in the latter twelfth century, however, hostility toward homosexuality began to take root, and eventually spread throughout European religious and secular institutions. Religious teachings soon were incorporated into legal and medical sanctions.

 

Sigmund Freud's basic theory of human sexuality was that he believed all human beings were innately bisexual, and that they become heterosexual or homosexual as a result of their experiences with parents and others (Freud, 1905). Nevertheless, Freud thought that a homosexual orientation should not be viewed as a form of pathology. In a now-famous letter to an American mother in 1935, Freud wrote:

 

"Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation, it cannot be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function produced by a certain arrest of sexual development. Many highly respectable individuals of ancient and modern times have been homosexuals, several of the greatest men among them (Plato, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.). It is a great injustice to persecute homosexuality as a crime, and cruelty too....

"If [your son] is unhappy, neurotic, torn by conflicts, inhibited in his social life, analysis may bring him harmony, peace of mind, full efficiency whether he remains a homosexual or gets changed...." (reprinted in Jones, 1957, pp. 208-209, from the American Journal of Psychiatry, 1951, 107, 786).

Of course Fread was wrong because he didn't think of the genetic factor involved. An entire history can be found here http://psychology.uc...tal_health.html

 

Modern day scientists and psychiatrists consider homosexuality to be normal. We are also studying the behaviour in animals. It is very common in goats and we are now discovering and understanding the reasons why this happens in nature. :smile:

Edited July 6, 2014 by oOtailspinOo

[standalone09]

In 1973, when homosexuality was removed from DSM-II, there was a great deal of controversy about that decision in the psychiatric community. Many psychiatrists and psychologists still believed that homosexuality was a psychopathology which must invariably cause impairment and distress.

 

Others recognized that the impairment and distress often seen by clinicians were a byproduct of stigma and social repression of homosexuals. This group argued that the pathologization of homosexuality in the DSM was a form of social control that itself contributed to the social stigma and to the harm it did. See DSM-II_Homosexuality_Revision.pdf

The famous decision did not come about as a result of a lengthy professional debate on the scientific merits. It happened in an important national political context -- the Watergate Affair -- and revelations surrounding Nixon's "Enemies List" and his conduct of the Vietnam War.

 

This was an era in which much of academia was very loathe to be seen as authoritarian, and very sensitive to charges of political complicity in upholding the cultural status quo. This was the heyday of "humanist psychology" and of second wave feminism. The "backlash" of "angry white men" was still a gleam in the Koch brothers' eyes.

 

This anti-authoritarian atmosphere undoubtedly contributed to the willingness of the head of the APA to "do the right thing" and remove homosexuality from the DSM. His decision occurred immediately before the actual vote, and as a result of being taken into a room in which many psychiatrists he knew personally were present and came out to him as homosexual. Thus, this major change in the legal status of homosexuals turned on a knife edge and actually had nothing to do with "scientific evidence". The issue had never been about "science", only about political prejudice posturing as "science". The fear that the APA would be stigmatized as an "establishment institution" was the primary driving factor behind the change in the DSM.

[JimboUK]

I really don't understand why people

 

I don't really see a debate on the validity of someone elses sexual orientation as even mildly viable.

 

Indeed not, what consenting adults choose to do with and to each other is their business, no one elses.

[oOtailspinOo]

I never stated that the issue had anything to do with "science" back in 1973. I already stated in my last post why people thought the way they did. 1973 was 40 years ago. I wasn't even born yet so those attitudes have absolutely zero effect on me. I am referring to today. However the modern era of Psychiatry has everything to do with science. I should know. I have a degree in Psychology and my older sister is a psychiatrist. That is a doctor (medical school, which is a science) and a psychologist.

 

What I am trying to say is you really can't compare the old "Psychology" to today's methods and theories. For example, let us take Sigmund Freud; we don't even take his theories seriously any more. Modern day psychology has very little if nothing to do with anything he has said or done in his lifetime. We learn about it because it is history but we don't talk about the id and ego any more. Those terms are obsolete as much as the ridiculous attitudes toward homosexuality in the 70's.

 

It is very difficult to think about gay and lesbian and transgender social attitudes before the AIDS epidemic in the early 80's. They are completely different eras; similar to, as a woman it is almost impossible to think that there was a time where we couldn't vote. Society as a whole matures and progresses. If I were you I would focus on the now father than the then. You will be happier that way :)

[oOtailspinOo]

It is always difficult to have a discussion when people are cutting and pasting stuff from the internet. Homosexuality: The Mental Illness That Went Away The internet is a good source for basic information like how to install a mod but it doesn't replace the classroom.