Why isn't it classified as a mental illness?

[nerdyboy87]

I mean no offense, I really don't, so please don't take it that way. And this has probably been asked before, but oh well.

Why isn't homosexuality classified as a mental illness? In fact, why do people freak out if it's suggested that homosexuality may just be an illness? I've heard the defense that it doesn't hinder people, but I quite disagree with that sentiment. Afterall, it stops us from loving the opposite sex. Which more or less ensures we will never breed, requiring people to either be closeted and lie about it, or get a third party (sperm donors for lesbians, surrogate mothers for gays). From a Darwinian point of view, we're all kinds of screwed up.

There's also the defense that we're born with it, and it's supposedly a part of what we are. But so are food allergies and down syndrome, but nobody tries to pretend that those aren't illnesses.

It's so bad that these days, it is considered monstrous to even suggest that homosexuality just MIGHT be an illness, to the point where some fighters are trying to argue against it being an inborn trait for fear it's discrimination. **** that ****. What is so bad about it being an illness? And actively fighting AGAINST any sort of cure is quite possibly the most selfish thing I've ever heard of. Yeah, you might like being gay, but that doesn't mean all gays are happy that way. What about the ones that actually wanted a normal life? Oh sure, a lot of the stuff that makes homosexuality not a normal life may be societal hate. But some of the stuff is just due to the nature of homosexuality itself. What about the people who want to marry a spouse and have kids without jumping through a bunch of hoops? Don't they deserve a cure?

Why do people try to pretend that this is even remotely normal?

[StarofMiyu]

Happens in animals, it's normal.

One of the reasons that I think it happens is, this world is overpopulated. And I mean hell, straight guys have to have a chance to. And an allergy is not an illness, you cannot cure an allergy. An illness is something the body can be bettered from. You cannot "cure" homosexuality because it is not an illness. The reason why it is not considered a mental illness is because it cannot be cured or even controlled with medication.

We don't consider cancer an illness, we can't cure that yet either. Sure we may have temporary solutions but the harsh truth of it is that it just keeps coming back.

Embrace your gayness. It's part of who you are. (and to the argument that anxiety and OCD cannot be cured, well they can be controlled with medication whilst homosexuality cannot be)

[Meropspusillus]

It's not classified as a mental because it doesn't hurt our ability to function in society. Simple as that. Illness is a word with very negative connotations. Illness implies one needs special help or needs to be cured.

Homosexuality is certain bad as far as Darwinism goes and is probably maladaptive, but it's not an illness.

[thedreamwatch]

Homosexuality is not a disease. It does not need to be fixed. Homosexual behavior is found in over 450 species on Earth. Do they need to be "cured" too?

People who are gay don't need to be fixed. The people who are putting that idea in their heads need to change their attitude. Being gay does not cause suffering by itself. It's the fear and hate of LGBT that is hurting people.
The damage caused in the vicinity of homosexuality is by people who keep telling us we're sick.

Because actually, I am sick. I'm sick and tired of people trying to tell me who and what I am, especially people who need to do a little bit more reading about what homosexuality is about. Or you know, meet some gay people and find out that we're human beings who have boring normal lives JUST like straight people. I am not miserable. I don't need to jump through hoops to be happy.

My girlfriend is beautiful and kind and special and my love is no different than anyone else's. To suggest that IS offensive, whether you meant it or not.

[Eccentric]

Originally Posted by StarofMiyu

You cannot "cure" homosexuality because it is not an illness. The reason why it is not considered a mental illness is because it cannot be cured or even controlled with medication.

We don't consider cancer an illness, we can't cure that yet either. Sure we may have temporary solutions but the harsh truth of it is that it just keeps coming back.

Did you just compare being gay to having cancer?

Originally Posted by thedreamwatch

Homosexual behavior is found in over 450 species on Earth. Do they need to be "cured" too?

Devil's advocate, but at least 450 species of organisms can have diseases too.

But yeah, I'm not sure if being bummed out about never popping a baby out your vagina counts as having your ability to function and go about daily life hindered.

[nerdyboy87]

Originally Posted by StarofMiyu

Happens in animals, it's normal.

So, your argument is that animals don't get sick?

One of the reasons that I think it happens is, this world is overpopulated. And I mean hell, straight guys have to have a chance to. And an allergy is not an illness, you cannot cure an allergy. An illness is something the body can be bettered from. You cannot "cure" homosexuality because it is not an illness. The reason why it is not considered a mental illness is because it cannot be cured or even controlled with medication.

Since when do illnesses stop being illnesses if there's no cure?

It's not classified as a mental because it doesn't hurt our ability to function in society.

We can't fall in with the opposite sex or breed.

[bookworm43]

homosexuality is simply not a mental illness, because it does exist in nature, and it exists with us. a mental illness is something that hinders one's ability to function normally; your rebuttal to that might be that homosexuality hinders your ability to live a normal life. my response is: there are many kinds of normal lives. there's the life of having a wife, three kids, and a dog. there's the life of having a girlfriend and living in an apartment together with a cat. there's the life of living with the love of your life, male or female. homosexuals want what any heterosexuals want: love. we want to love and be loved. so my suggestion to you is this: find the man you want to be with the rest of your life. and if you do, you CAN have those three kids, AND a dog, AND a house in the suburbs. the world is changing. i can't wait to turn 18 so i can enjoy it properly.

You sound like a troll But here it goes...

The statistics show that ex-gay therapies do not work and the majority of the people either commit suicide, fall to depression or they "change" but in reality those ppl just remain celibate (statistically speaking). There is no medication at all for "curing" gayness. Throughout the 20th century, psychologists have only resorted to cruel means such as electro shock therapy and other inhumane tactics. ECT in some cases have even caused brain damage in some studies. ECT only works for things like seizures but even those are often used only as a last resort because it is HIGHLY dangerous. No medicine works to ""cure" being gay.

A lot of people compare being gay to being born fat. Being fat harms no one right? Being obese is unhealthy so you exercise to lose the weight. Being overweight causes a myriad of issues from heart to respiratory problems in the most extreme cases. But what about being gay? You are not harming anyone else. Does being gay harm yourself? Does it increase your chances of a heart attack? stroke? cancer? diabetes? ulcers? IBS? autism? No and that is why it can't be compared to being fat or other "flaws".

"Afterall, it stops us from loving the opposite sex. Which more or less ensures we will never breed, requiring people to either be closeted and lie about it, or get a third party (sperm donors for lesbians, surrogate mothers for gays). From a Darwinian point of view, we're all kinds of screwed up."
Yes, evolutionarily being gay doesn't make sense but by not being able to breed is part of nature's way for population control. (ADD: Some gay people also adopt children.) Darwin's conclusion is not "we're all kinds of screw up". BIO 101 for ya ;D It is "survival of the fittest". Every once in a while nature INTENDS to "screw up" but a more sophistated term would be mutations and/or variations. These variations will either benefit the next generation of that particular species or hinder them. The one's that benefit them go forth and multiply (that is the basis of evolution. Slow and gradual change due to random mutations).
In terms of finches in Darwin's "Origin of Species", do we try to save the ones with a short stubby beak and give them a longer beak like the others because they are not normal? No, because nature takes it course. Those finches eat smaller seeds
while the longer beak ones eat insects and pollinate flowers and such. <<<Dont' know if you see where I'm going with this...

Bottom Line: Being gay is not something that needs to be corrected because you are born with it and it harms neither the people around you and most importantly IT DOESN'T HARM YOURSELF. It doesn't increase your chances of heart disease and the like. (it may increase depression but that's society's fault)

[kiersten]

From Wikipedia:

The DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) organizes each psychiatric diagnosis into five dimensions (axes) relating to different aspects of disorder or disability:

Axis I: Clinical disorders, including major mental disorders, and learning disorders
Axis II: Personality disorders and intellectual disabilities (although developmental disorders, such as Autism, were coded on Axis II in the previous edition, these disorders are now included on Axis I)
Axis III: Acute medical conditions and physical disorders
Axis IV: Psychosocial and environmental factors contributing to the disorder
Axis V: Global Assessment of Functioning or Children's Global Assessment Scale for children and teens under the age of 18

You'll notice there is no axis for homosexuality or that it really falls under any of the other axes.

Axis I are clinical disorder, including mental disorders, & a person is NOT crazy if they are gay (although some days one can feel like they're going crazy, but that's just life & has nothing to actually do with being gay really)
Axis II are personality disorders and intellectual disabilities, and being gay isn't your personality or an impairment, it's just who you are naturally
Axis III are acute medical conditions and physical disorders, and being gay isn't a medical condition you contract or that requires a cure, or even a birth defect because it's who you are from birth
Axis IV are psychosocial and environmental factors contributing to the disorder. Now I've heard people blame the environment & society for a lot of things like allergies or urban violence & such, but I think we can all agree that neither the great outdoors nor standing in the middle of downtown with 100 other people makes people gay
Axis V is what it says, which is tools for assessment of people under the age of 18 & again, if you're gay, it's probably not from skinning your knee our suddenly hitting the age of 7

Given that the DSM-IV is pretty much the standard for diagnosticians in the psychology & psychiatric fields, you'd think there'd be a good reason homosexuality isn't in there. BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ANYBODY WHO'S GAY!!!

In short, being gay is just how some people are from birth. Happens in nature, why not the rest of us? I knew when I studied psychology all those years in university, some of it would sink in there & stay... LOL!


BTW, the ancient Greeks & Romans had absolutely no issues whatsoever with same sex relationships because it was just normal to be with who you wanted to. Once the Victorian era in England hit & The Puritans hit the shores, that's when we started to get some funny ideas about what's normal & abnormal (well, maybe before that, but I'm sure everyone gets my point...)

[thedreamwatch]

Originally Posted by Eccentric

Devil's advocate, but at least 450 species of organisms can have diseases too.

But yeah, I'm not sure if being bummed out about never popping a baby out your vagina counts as having your ability to function and go about daily life hindered.

Touche, Eccentric. But the gay is not killing animals, nor is it harming us.

And (lol) I don't personally feel hindered by it.
Are straight people who CHOOSE not to pop babies out of their/their partner's vagina mentally ill too?

[StarofMiyu]

Fail. I didn't imply that animals do not get sick. But homosexuality does not affect the animal in any adverse way.

The theory of homosexuality being something wrong with you arises from the idea that we are just sex machines here to procreate ourselves. That's not true, we are here to live lives and have a little fun with it. Humanities main goal is NOT to just reproduce, that is why gayness is also prevalent in the animal kingdom. If it was an illness that means it could be cured, an illness is something that impairs bodily function and can be cured or controlled with medication. Homosexuality cannot be, you cannot cure a function ingrained into your brain, just like I cannot cure my transexuality.

Another view. EMBRYOS!!!! Are they predetermined to be male or female? Nope. It is due to chemicals.
What about hermaphrodites? Should we cut off their extra "penaynay"? Or enlarge their existing penis and get rid of the vajayjay? Because evolutionarily, they dont' make sense either

---------- Post added 3rd Jul 2011 at 11:46 PM ----------

Originally Posted by kiersten

BTW, the ancient Greeks & Romans had absolutely no issues whatsoever with same sex relationships because it was just normal to be with who you wanted to. Once the Victorian era in England hit & The Puritans hit the shores, that's when we started to get some funny ideas about what's normal & abnormal (well, maybe before that, but I'm sure everyone gets my point...)

The ancient Greeks actually sought for the ideal in everything. Their ideal was a homosexual relationship. i learned that in art history. and oh yeah i'm so pissed that i didn't bring up the axes in my argument. good one. I just learned that last year in my psy class. I'm a psy minor

[Jay]

Originally Posted by Skiel

Another view. EMBRYOS!!!! Are they predetermined to be male or female? Nope. It is due to chemicals.
What about hermaphrodites? Should we cut off their extra "penaynay"? Or enlarge their existing penis and get rid of the vajayjay? Because evolutionarily, they dont' make sense either

Totally sigged.

Originally Posted by Jay

Totally sigged.

THANK YOU THANK YOU! *bows

[theWorldisYours]

There are so many illnesses, diseases, pathogens, etc. The difference between these diseases and homosexuality is that these diseases all have causes, and evidence to back up the causes of disease. If you have strep throat, then you have a bacterial infection. The bacteria can be seen and directly treated by antibiotics. If you have cancer, then you have a tumor, or some other manifestation suggesting that your body's cells are dividing uncontrollably. Again the disease can be observed, and treated. If you are born with down syndrome then you have 47 chromosomes instead of 46. If you have depression, regardless of emotional contributions, you have a chemical imbalance in your brain. This can also be treated.

To get to the point, all of these things can be diagnosed by key characteristics, and more importantly, treated. homosexuality has not been classified as an illness because, we don't know why it exists. Research has been done, and there is no definite answer as to why homosexuality exists. Is it an illness? maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but without research to back it up it can not be classified as a mental illness.

[kiersten]

---------- Post added 3rd Jul 2011 at 11:46 PM ----------[/B]
[/COLOR]

Originally Posted by kiersten

BTW, the ancient Greeks & Romans had absolutely no issues whatsoever with same sex relationships because it was just normal to be with who you wanted to. Once the Victorian era in England hit & The Puritans hit the shores, that's when we started to get some funny ideas about what's normal & abnormal (well, maybe before that, but I'm sure everyone gets my point...)

The ancient Greeks actually sought for the ideal in everything. Their ideal was a homosexual relationship. i learned that in art history. and oh yeah i'm so pissed that i didn't bring up the axes in my argument. good one. I just learned that last year in my psy class. I'm a psy minor

I actually studied psychology for 2 years in college & then another 4 years in university & almost majored for my degree (unofficial major for like a year & a half tho), but I decided to go with sociology instead. Fun fact: I started out as an anthropology major (1 year in college & then another 1 in university before I switched. I was almost like Pauly Shore from Son-In-Law there for a bit...)

Ahh, neither the great outdoors or standing in the middle of downtown with 100 people makes you gay. Even I can't believe I come up with this stuff sometimes... ***has a chucke & wipes away a tear from giggling too hard***

[bookworm43]

lol don't i feel like an ignorant young one here...everyone referencing psychology lol. i actually really wanna get into psychology when i get to college, i love that kind of thing. don't even get me started on my obsession with murder and what has to go wrong to be an arsonist or a sadist...Criminal Minds is my favorite show. only i can't watch it at night. too scary.

*way to sound mature with that last sentence, self.
*way to not sound crazy, talking to yourself...

oh... i fail.

Originally Posted by bookworm43

lol don't i feel like an ignorant young one here...everyone referencing psychology lol. i actually really wanna get into psychology when i get to college, i love that kind of thing. don't even get me started on my obsession with murder and what has to go wrong to be an arsonist or a sadist...Criminal Minds is my favorite show. only i can't watch it at night. too scary.

*way to sound mature with that last sentence, self.
*way to not sound crazy, talking to yourself...

oh... i fail.

HEY HEY HEY! Only people who say they are mature are immature and the ones to say they are immature are usually more mature. Also the ones who say they are crazy are the least crazy
You should do psychology if it excites you. Some topics are pretty interesting and funny especially when it comes to sexual disorders. Man, those are fun xD

---------- Post added 4th Jul 2011 at 12:10 AM ----------

Well funny, because our professor kept cracking bad sex jokes =_= LOL

[GuardianKitten]

Originally Posted by StarofMiyu

just like I cannot cure my transexuality.

Smartassery, yes you can; it's called hormones/surgery

I really think you're a troll. Homosexuality USED to be classed as a mental illness (sexual paraphilia I think??) but it's not because frankly, there's nothing wrong with us. Our gayness simply means we do not care to have sex with those of the opposite sex.

It's called natural population control.

Our brains are different than the typical population's, but no further than general variation among a species.

[kiersten]

I did really enjoy psychology when I studied it, I just didn't want to do it as a career (the education gets pretty intense the further you go, plus there are some heads I just don't wanna be inside, excluding Cameron Diaz of course, I'd love to see what she thinks about! :P) I'm not a huge fan of Criminal Minds since Mandy Patinkin left the show, but Law & Order is & always has been my favourite show. I was really bummed when they cancelled the original series after 20 seasons, then cancelled L&O Criminal Intent after 10 seasons & also cancelled L&O Trial By Jury & L&O Los Angeles after only one season each. Oh well, at least I still have my L&O SVU...