Is Homosexuality A Mental Disorder?

Throughout history, there have been accounts of people being persecuted for many reasons; race, religion, political affiliations, and sexual orientation. In the United States, and many other nations across the globe, there have been hundreds of thousands of people victimized for being homosexual. Due to differing standpoints, homosexuality is seen as “immoral” or “sinful” or even “disgusting”. Up until 1973, homosexuality was also referred to as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. People could be openly criticized, mocked, and often killed for simply being gay. Because of these social and religious criticisms, many people have been forced to partake in “conversion” or “reparative” therapies in order to become

He contradicted the argument that homosexual behaviour is related to genetic, hormonal or biological disorder. To abolish these views, the author mentions that ‘no school of medicine, medical journal or professional organization has ever recognized such claims (p. 2) - at least at the time he wrote the article in 1994.

It is interesting to note that according to the American Psychiatric Association, up until 1974 homosexuality was considered a mental illness. There was no scientific breakthrough or any new information that would allow for this change of status. Simply, “The APA claimed that they made the change because new research showed that most homosexual people were content with their sexual orientation, and that as a group, they appeared to be as well-adjusted as heterosexual people”. The decision to remove homosexually as a mental illness was done by trustee, and the decision was confirmed by a vote. I do not believe that homosexually is a mental illness, however, homosexually was never validated or invalidated by science, so I am surprised to learn that it was even considered a mental

·         Since 1973, how does the American Psychiatric Association view homosexuality? (Page 221) A normal variant of sexual orientation

First, we have to take a quick step into the history of LGBT and we as a society have to recognize that we use to consider people to have a mental disorder if they were homosexual. It wasn’t until American Psychologist Evelyn Hooker and her series that showed that there was no evidence to support the statement that homosexuality is a mental illness. Although she started her test all on her own, in 1954, she would apply for a grant from the NIHM (National Institute of Mental

Back before homosexuality was considered a sexuality, there were beliefs that being one was a sin. Until the nineteenth and twentieth century, it was then changed to a mental illness and put into the American Psychology Association (APA). Many individual underwent extensive forms of treatment in order to be considered “cured”, this was called reparative or conversion therapy, when often not the treatment was unsuccessful only resulting in feelings of shame and guilt toward their own sexual cognitions. Having electrodes strapped usually to the hands or genitalia or vomit inducing drugs pumped into their systems while slides of the

Once I have become aware of and accepted my morals, next I need to identify if they are coming into play with this client in a negative way. If my morals are coming into play there are several ways this impact the therapy I am doing with this client. The ways in which impact can occur is through building rapport, maintaining a therapeutic alliance, through my approach including treatment planning and goals, through transference or countertransference, and by limiting my ability to help this client with their issue. Before 1973 the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders viewed homosexuality as a psychological disorder. This resulted in treatment plans that involved reorienting the individual to be heterosexual (Fontaine & Hammond, 1996). Although this practice is no longer common and has been debunked many times a metaphorical wedge between

During the 1900’s, homosexuals were sent to mental institutions to “cure” them of what was thought to be a disease. There they underwent shock therapy, one of the many methods used in conversion therapy. In 1920 Sigmund Freud began the practice of changing a person 's sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. In the beginning homosexuality was also deemed as “ a negative human characteristic caused by immaturity, pathology and family dynamic” (Scoolaid.net). Soon its popularity had scientists such as Eugen Steinach, Sandor Ferenczi as well as his daughter Anna Freud partake in the practice. If they were not sent to mental

The idea of homosexual behavior has created a number of responses worldwide. Currently, the United States has many levels of acceptance of homosexuality. There are places on this earth that have the same outlook as the United States, and there are places that are completely opposite. By looking at these different perspectives, the public could obtain some valuable points in the battle of acceptance. My objective is to give these old ideas a new audience, to show the wide range of acceptance throughout the world, and to compare the United States and other nations challenged to acknowledge a different lifestyle.

In the article “A New Normal” John-Pierre Joyce writes about Homosexuality in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Doctors and homosexual men were very desperate to find a cure for what they considered a disease at the time. In 1957 a doctor went on TV to publically state that he was a homosexual and wanted to become normal and to be cured. This was contradictory to a report published called the Wolfenden Report. In the report it was concluded that there was not enough evidence to prove that homosexuality was in fact a disease. Also Alfred Kinsey did research on how homosexual tendencies could be found in all humans throughout a persons’ life-time, reinforcing the fact that being gay was not a disease.

The question of whether homosexuality is a choice remains a topic in which everyone seems to have an opinion. Whether it is for psychological or religious reasons, some people still think being gay is the worst thing you could be. Newsweek.com states that, “blaming people for being gay is like blaming them for being left-handed”. They have also stated that the APA has now cleared up on the subject of mental health in an LGBT individual, staying that is “not a mental illness or disorder with no identifiable dissimilar psychopathology, as both heterosexual and homosexual behaviors are normal aspects of human sexuality” Stephanie Fairyington, author of “The Gay Option”, has dealt with this as a personal issue firsthand. In her article she explains that one can’t choose to be gay, just like they can’t choose their personality. She even goes as far to say to her mother that, “If there were a straight pill,’…’I’d swallow if faster than you can say the word gay.” (Fairyington, p 50) Stephanie Fairyington also addresses whether it is a choice to act on these thoughts, and if is up to the individual if they go through with them. This paper will also view the legality and moral standpoints of homosexuality from the viewpoints of Joyce John Pierre, author of “A New Normal”.

Although Gender Identity Disorder (GID) and homosexuality has been in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) for many years, I was personally unaware of the controversy that surrounded it. I realized that I needed to educate myself in the issues and changes that have occurred in the DSM regarding GID and homosexuality over the years.

As one of the many sexual orientations, homosexuality is a form of emotional, romantic, and sexual attraction that is primarily or exclusively to people of the same sex. Homosexuality is a fairly recent phenomenon in the twenty-first century; in fact, this sexual orientation has significantly increased but there is no precise way to estimate the exact numbers due to people not openly identifying as such due to homophobia (which, in everyday use, is the fear of homosexuals) and homobigotry (intolerance of different sexual orientations). Even though homosexual relations have been recognized, condemnation has also occurred and recent legislation has restricted much of the homosexual community in the West. To a considerate sum of the overall population, homosexuality is viewed as immoral and law codes rule against recognizing homosexuality as a norm. I intend to argue that, against popular belief, homosexuality is not immoral. I will show that there is no stable argument that such a statement against homosexuals is founded and instead, those who think otherwise is basing their opinion on arbitrary beliefs.

Homosexuality has in recent times asserted the position of being a topic of much heated debate. Simple opinion has divided the line between many and conclude those that stand for traditional values and those who take a progressive stance in civil rights. While the nation has become a buzz of opinions and perspectives, many arguments that have been made have been exaggerated and slandered to the extent that they are no more than myths that have been left off of a leash unchecked. Ultimately, there is nothing inherently wrong with homosexuality, and despite even the best arguments made against the principle, little carry any weight.

Upon entering this course, my understanding of human sexuality was decent; I was aware of certain aspects of sexuality such as being straight, gay, lesbian, queer, transgender, etc. Nevertheless, I did not realize how expansive sexuality is; it never occurred to me that sexual health, prostitution, marriage, rape, sex trafficking, divorce, families, etc., all fell under the umbrella of human sexuality. Books and essays such as Renee Hill’s Walk Together and David Shneer’s “Out of School” showcased the multiple facets of human sexuality and how terms like queer are not directly related to homosexuality. While sexuality and homosexuality are linked, frequently, people mistake them as being synonymous; before entering this class, I was searching for a definition of sexuality, and often in the thesaurus section of dictionary websites homosexuality and or sexual orientation was considered a synonym of sexuality. Formerly, I too would have agreed they were the same, however, after taking this course, I concluded that homosexuality is just one topic in the broad discussion of sexuality. My understanding of sexuality now is that it