Homosexuality Is Not a Psychological Disorder Essay

Many people believe and have debated whether or not homosexuality is a choice that one freely makes, while others believe a combination of genetics, hormones and environment have a factor in one’s sexuality and sexual development. Homosexuality is something one cannot choose to be. Primarily, homosexuality can be defined as a romantic or sexual attraction that involves people of the same gender. Male homosexuals are referred to as gays while the female ones are called lesbians. Ideally, since time immemorial, there have been controversies worldwide whether homosexuality should be allowed or banned in the society. In the same way, there have been cases where people are segregated in the community because they are gays or lesbians. Notably, the United States of America is among the countries that have legalized homosexual relationships and marriages. However, in other countries that have traditional cultures, homosexuality is usually going against the ethics and ethos of the community and whoever is involved may be shamed, persecuted, prosecuted (jailed), or disowned by the community. The Western world has been pressuring and influencing many countries that has diverse cultures that do not allow people of the same gender to get married or be in relationships to change their views and policies However most countries are still attached to their culture and values. Nevertheless, there is a small percentage of homosexuals living in those countries, but they choose to live private

The stigma surrounding homosexuality in the United States is frightening. Since the dawn of religion, homosexuality has been frowned upon. It was and still is seen as a disgrace to the human race. More commonly seen in the 1950’s, 60’s and some of the 70’s homosexuality was considered a psychological disease and was even listed in the DSM, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM (Herek). Parents would put their children through various psychotherapies and religious therapies. Unfortunately after the social norm changed to become slightly more accepting of gays the hatred made its way from a religious point of

The discovery of a “gay disease”, while certainly shocking at the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, was not a new notion. The medicalization of homosexuality was a common thread since the turn of the century and had previously defined homosexuality as a disease and as a mental illness, so when medical professionals encountered a situation in which homosexuality appeared to be the common theme among afflicted individuals, it was not an absurd notion to use the constructs of homosexuality as medical reasoning and cause for the physical manifestations evident in patients (Seidman 172). The gay lifestyle that had been put forward in a positive and progressive manner to contrast the notion of homosexuality

Homosexuals value as people is decreasing because of the science, scientists are trying to combine a person’s feelings with reasoning. Logic and emotion are two very distinct ways of thinking, someone can’t teach another person to love, love is an emotion. Conversion therapy centers have failed because homosexuality is not considered a mental disorder, proven by the American Psychological Association (APA); calling the therapy a “danger to gay people's mental health”.

In 1968 homosexuality used to be qualified as a psychological disorder in the DMS-II (the American Classification of Mental Disorders). This was argued by several different people throughout several years, then in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association voted on whether homosexuality was a disorder or not, 5,854 voted to remove it from the DSM and 3,810 voted to keep it in. The APA then replaced it with a new thing called the "sexual orientation disturbance" which was essentially the same thing. So even though they technically removed homosexuality as a mental disorder, they actually just renamed and rephrased homosexuality and put it back into the DSM. Eventually in 1987 they got rid of homosexuality's classification as a disorder as a

In 1950’s psychologist in United States recorded homosexuality as a mental disorder which was known DMS (Diagnostic Statistical Manual). In 1972, psychologists removed homosexuality from the list of mental disorders. Homosexuality indicates the sexual orientation in which individuals of the same gender engages romantically and sexually (Knox 134). According to Appiah (2), there lacks explicit explanation for the basis of orientation, but existing information suggests environment contributes its developments. As a practice, orientation has ingratiated itself amongst many cultures and people of different calibers. For females, the term lesbian denotes the type of sexual orientation, whereas for male, people prevalently use the word gay. However,

In the 20th century homosexuality was classified as a mental illness by the APA (American Psychiatric Association) and it wasn’t until 1973 that the APA declassified homosexuality as a mental illness. Almost 50 years, that seems like an extremely long time to realize that being gay didn’t mean you were mentally unstable. To this day there are people that believe it is a disease and that it’s wrong.

Human Sexuality is an important facet of our idea of self and who we are in life. The act of human reproduction is undeniably necessary for the continuation of the human race. Whether we choose to practice reproduction as nature intended via coitus between a man and a woman or to parent children that were conceived under unorthodox methods such as artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization our humanity can only continue to exist if we create more of ourselves. The most socially accepted expression of sexual identity is heterosexuality which is defined as sexual attraction to the opposite sex where sex is defined biologically by the gonads, male genitalia and female genitalia. At the other end of the spectrum are those identified as homosexual defined by same sex attraction or attraction to those who are biologically similar to themselves at the gonadal level. Being human we are aware of the pleasure that can be derived through sexual acts and have evolved to explore this side of our selves at times independent of the desire to procreate. I would argue that this desire is nature’s way of rewarding us for forwarding our genetics to future generations and that it is indeed quite natural to explore our desire for pleasure via sexual conduct. However as humanity has developed social influences, such as religion and the idea of what is normal, have demonized those possessing

Some people think that homosexuality is a disease and hence gay people should seek treatment with psychologists to try to be healed from that sickness. On the other hand, as the opposition states, homosexuality is a natural condition that is completely unconscious and

Would you consider homosexuality to be a mental disorder? In the past, and even in present day, people viewed homosexuality, or being gay or lesbian, to be a psychiatric problem. People would view homosexuality as a problem because of their religion, beliefs in societal normality, or maybe because they viewed it as a cause for criminal activity. In reality, none of these are true reasons as to why homosexuality would be a mental health disorder. In today’s world, people have realized that others can have different preferences than them and that it is not an abnormality. Homosexuality is just one of those differences, but it doesn’t relate to mental illnesses at all. Mental disorders are “health conditions that are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, or behavior (or some combination thereof) associated with distress and/or impaired functioning.” (Department Of Health And Human Services 5). Homosexuality does not derive from distress or impaired functioning, therefore, it should not be treated as a psychiatric problem.

Despite of the astounding leap of mankind from one innovation to another, one idea still remains consistent– that homosexuality is a taboo in society. Most people would identify homophobia as a medieval Christian attitude. Countless verses in the Catholic bible express prejudice, such as Leviticus 18:22. The verse states that, “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” Clergymen often argue that homosexuality is a moral crisis that plagued the earth together with other abominable sins. Moreover, they reiterate that homosexuality violates the natural process of procreation, between husband and wife, which is mandated by God. On the other hand, some researchers in the mental health field suggest that homosexuality is a direct link to mental disorders, such as the study published by the American Psychiatric Association, entitled, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in the second edition.

Homosexual isn't a mental health problem it can become one due to other thoughts. Living homosexual can be genetical by birth, which is affected by family or even by choice which is judged by community. What do you think I have provided so far? Choosing to be homo is not a bad thing, it has it pros and cons , but some people feel as if the body they were born in isn't what they want. You should be able to live in anyways you

The Diagnostic Statistical Manual is an extremely important asset to the mental health field. The DSM was created to assist clinicians in diagnosing and recognizing mental illness in their clients. It has been used for over six decades and there are a total of five editions. Each edition has some updated and new information that wasn’t included in the last edition. The reason for the changes in the DSM is because the mental health field is always evolving. There’s new information that’s discovered from research and is implemented into the next DSM. All mental health clinicians have the common goal of providing treatment to their clients in the best and most effect way possible. Homosexuality was once labeled a mental illness in the DSM, but in a later edition it was removed from the DSM. In May 2013, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) published the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). This culminated 12 years of work with the stated goal of “enhancing the clinical usefulness of DSM-5 as a guide in the diagnosis of mental disorders” (APA, 2013, p. 5). The latest edition of the DSM is DSM-5 it represents some of the most current information on clinical psychology. Clinicians all over the world use the same DSM and that’s important for whole host of reasons. Some reason are to ensure that everyone is getting the best treatment possible and to make sure clinicians are following a guideline to diagnose people and not just

History - Scientists have no idea on what it meant to be gay 10,000 years ago but “we have some idea what it meant 200 years ago” says geneticist Sven Blocklandt of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (Abrams). The terms ‘‘homosexual’’ and ‘‘homosexuality’’ were first coined in a political disquisition in 1869 by Hungarian journalist Ka´roli Ma´ria Kertbeny (Drescher). In the early 20th century, most regarded homosexuality as “pathological” or as a disease and by the mid 20th century, many psychiatrists, psychologists, and physicians were trying to “cure” homosexuality. In 1952, DSM-I (the first Diagnosis

The history of gay or same sex marriages has been long in the whole world. Most of the western societies in the early time tolerated it. Astonishingly, they went to an extent of celebrating the same sex relationships and marriages. In ancient Rome, there are evidences of the same sex marriages but their proof is not clear. Same sex marriages can also be traced in medieval Europe and also the ancient Greece. There are also some other proofs of gay marriages among Africans Native Americans.