Controversial: Homosexuality as mental illness?

ask any psychologist/psychiatrist. it isnt a mental illness. its proven. and as for the girls, what they were doing to themselves was destructive. it was hurting them, even though they thought it made them happy. we arent doing damage to ourselves. plus, u choose not to eat/purge. we cant help who were attracted to.

 

While it has not yet been proven it is a common consensus that being gay is something you're born as. People aren't born anorexic, but there could be problems that lead them to anorexia. I also agree with Alex19. These girls are doing destructive behavior. Gay people are just expressing a feeling they have toward the same sex.

 

I understand totally what you're saying and the comparison has come up in my mind too. However, I think there are big differences in anorexia and homosexuality which quickly blow the compairson up.

Anorexia is a distorted view of your own body / a misguided coping mechanism to deal with other problems, by depriving your body of the things it needs. It leads to even further body confusion, self-hatred, psychological complications, relationship issues, not to mention the obvious health/life risks inherent in the condition.

In contrast, homosexuality is a natural state which some people happen to be born into. It is not necessarily caused by any psychological problems, but is just how some people are. It springs from a desire to love and be close to people who happen to be of the same sex. It leads, when accepted and respected and nourished like heterosexuality, to fulfilling and loving relationships between people. It has no inherent negative effects, as it only affects a small proportion of the population, and harms neither those people nor the rest of the population.

I know some people would say that (a) homosexuality is also caused by psychological problems, or (b) it also leads to unhappiness, but I would disagree. I don't know what makes me gay but I know that people from all times, places, and walks of life, have been gay. Some have problems, some have fewer problems, but it is impossible to find a rule as to what might have caused their same-sex attraction. So I think it's just a natural occurence which affects the lucky few Secondly, I think homosexuality is not harmful, any more than heterosexuality. It is perfectly possible to have loving, productive gay relationships, and, when you remove the negative effects of the homophobic society we live in, there is no reason why gay people shouldn't be as happy as their straight counterparts.

So there really is no comparison with anorexia, which is both caused by misery and leads to further misery. The "pro anorexia websites" we read about are fuelled by desperation and misguided delusions. Whereas sites like EC are trying to encourage people to accept themselves for the natural way they are and recognise that they can be themselves while leading happy, healthy lives.

Hope that helps

 

People are not born with anorexia, it is something that is acquired at some point in life. People who are diagnosed as anorexic are usaully described as trying to conform to the views of society that being extremely thin is the only way to be happy with yourself. It is a physical as well as a mental sickness. However, many scientist believe now that there is possibly a gay gene. I dont believe that one day I just decided to be gay to conform to society or to make myself happier, its just something that I am. If it was a mental thing, then there would be some success with gay conversion therapy, which there hasnt been. People who try conversion therapy end up more messed up in the end. Unlike anorexics, who with time and therapy are able to beat anorexia.

 

A gay person can be happy, and anorexic one certainly can't.

Yet, when I read about homosexuality being the consequence of an overbearing mother and an absent father, I couldn't help but think that it is indeed a 'mental disorder'. But then, it turned out that there are so many gay people for whom this explanation doesn't account, that I started to feel a little more relieved.

 

homosexuality is a state of existance.

anorexia/bulmia, those are peer pressure created illnesses cause by social obsessions with being thin, and fitting a image presented to them in various forms of media.

 

>>>So basically, what would you say to someone who said that homosexuality is still essentially a mental illness or condition?

I'd say they're absolutely correct. I think it IS a mental condition. But unlike anorexia, I don't see it as a necessarily detrimental one. It isn't intrinsically damaging to one's health or wellbeing, and the only mental or psychological harm comes from the negative stigma applied by people who don't "get it". To me, being gay is like being left-handed. It's caused by something in the brain, and there doesn't seem to be much reason to attempt a "cure". The best course of treatment is to simply let them be, and let them live killer lives without people giving them grief about it.

Lex

 

Jung once said "Show me a sane man, and I shall cure him" and I think that neatly illustrates the problem here.

What is defined as a "mental illness" has changed over time with cultural attitudes and more researching being done. This is simply because everyone is exceptionally individual so defining a statistical "norm" is difficult.

When homosexuality was initially defined as a mental disorder, they did it slightly backwards. They first took a value judgement and then drew psychological conclusions to explain its origins. There's no value judgement with being anorexic. Nobody says anything along the lines of "Those thin people, they lead a disgusting, ungodly life." And as such, it's treated as a condition, rather than something that's a moral or lifestyle problem.

Maybe homosexuality is something that happens mentally, but not all mental conditions can/need to be treated.