Conversion/Reparative therapy is an inhumane process where often someone who is homosexual will be manipulated into thinking that they are heterosexual. Most will refer to it as “praying the gay away” which is actually part of the sessions, however it gets much more abusive than that. A type of therapy that our next Vice President, Mike Pence, funds is called electroshock conversion therapy, where you’re basically “shocking the gay away.” A lot of times, clients who go through these forms of therapy never feel “cured” from their sexuality, and actually may have developed trauma-induced mental disorders due to the abuse and manipulation these so-called “therapists” put them through. At this point, how can we get anymore inhumane? First, this …show more content…
Johnson Nicolosi, believe that conversion therapy is actually effective in changing people’s sexual attraction from the same sex to the opposite sex. They are convinced that homosexual people who aren’t accepting of themselves seek out help to “convert” that. The truth is, someone who is unaccepting just needs time. We live in a world where being different is frowned upon and it’s often that our parents influence our views. In most cases, a homosexual teenager who is raised by religious parents will grow up thinking being gay is a sin, because that’s what the bible says. This idea is often referred to as internalized homophobia, and from interviewing several people; it’s a common thing for teens and people in general to feel. In fact, a study in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing states, “family acceptance of LGBT youth predicts positive outcomes in mental health, self esteem, and overall health status.” Basically saying that without acceptance of others, it’s hard for one to accept …show more content…
Sure, there are some people who switch around sexual orientations, and that’s perfectly fine, although this doesn’t require a therapist’s help. No one in this world is going to just have attraction to the same sex without feeling like that’s who they are, because again, it’s frowned upon in today’s society. Yes, society has lighten up on their hatred towards the LGBT+ community, but it’s still not a thing people just choose like they choose chocolate cake over vanilla. A major issue with those who think conversion therapy is effective is that they believe being homosexual is a choice. While science has yet to find a specific gene that makes someone gay, there is proof that it is indeed, not a choice. “For instance, a 2014 study in the journal, Psychological Medicine, showed that a gene on the X chromosome (one of the sex chromosomes) called Xq28 and a gene on chromosome 8 seem to be found in higher prevalence in men who are
...s gone through. At times I cried knowing that maybe there is more to this transgender group of people. There are over 700,000 people going through transgender. One doctor said that sexual desire is who you go to bed with and gender is who you go to bed as. Transgender doesn’t mean that they are wanting to be with the opposite sex. There are some that go either way.
In her article “Homosexuality Cannot Be Cured,” Casey Sanchez argues that reparative camps are damning the LGBT community. She profiles a former ex- gay minister John Smid. Smid was the founder of Love in Action (LIA). The majority of the clients of this camp were young men who came from religious families. These boys were being forced into these camps because their parents wanted them to learn that being gay was a sin and that it could cast a person out from their family, church, and home. Smid was struggling with his sexuality as well. Founding LIA gave Smid the platform he needed to treat young men his away. LIA is standing strong today, but Smid has left because he has found that there is no key evidence that anyone can turn from homosexual to heterosexual ( Sanchez).
In conclusion, keeping Gender Dysphoria as a diagnosis aids the most vulnerable population in seeking treatment and care, options, protection, and guidance. As society and medicine moves forward, we may be able to steer away from mental health bias and general discrimination towards non-conformity, but for now it is important to protect the patients who are helped by the diagnosis. Gender Dysphoria currently allows patients to be treated under their insurance, have access to care, and fight for their
For years homosexuality in the United States of America has been looked down upon by citizens, religions, and even politicians. The homosexual culture, or the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender), has been demoralized and stuck out and lashed against by the Heterosexual community time and time again. To better understand the LGBT community we must first grasp the concept of Sexual Orientation.
People who support conversion therapy concur that these gender variant behaviors are a condition that needs to be treated; the treatment is designed
Making a stands that being a homosexual is natural and homosexuality isn’t a mental disorder. Conversion or reparative therapy only suppress their sexual conduct, not their sexual desires. Those type of therapy infuses shame and guilt in a person which can cause the person the shutdown. Secondly, conversion therapy can make a person feel like they have no way out. The highly disapproved therapy can push a person to make a bad rational decision possibly committing suicide. LGBT people are three to seven times more likely to commit suicide. Thirdly, they promote sexual orientation is a choice but your sexual orientation is not a choice. Conversion and Reparative therapy are supported by James Dobson which created a Christian organization called “ Focus On The
Therapists believe that watching porn will make men attracted to women while it will make women attracted to men (A Survivor Of Gay Conversion Therapy Shares His Chilling Story, 2016). Another method therapists use is to force people to pray the gay away. One man named Paul Southwick wrote about how he tried to pray the gay away, but all that did was make him hate himself and feel like he wasn’t trying hard enough. Some therapists give their patients electric shocks while showing them homoerotic images. This leads to patients associating homosexuals with pain (A Survivor Of Gay Conversion Therapy Shares His Chilling Story, 2016).
Many members of the LGBT community sent to Conversion Camps are mainly minors, who are later diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. Psychiatrist Dr. L. Spitzer, who once supported a study on Conversion Therapy, has since denounced the practice and apologized (hrc.org). While many people who are not from the LGBT Community accept its members, there is still a high majority of people who reject and discriminate against the LGBT Community.
Scientists in fields connected to neurobiology and psychiatry remain mystified about the cause of Conversion Disorder. The disorder is characterized by physical symptoms of a neurological disorder, yet no direct problem can be found in the nervous system or other related systems of the body. This fact alone is not unusual; many diseases and symptoms have unknown origins. Conversion Disorder, however, seems to stem from "trivial" to traumatic psychological events and emotions rather than biological events. The extreme symptoms often disappear as quickly as they appear without the patient consciously controlling or feigning them. Thus, Conversion Disorder serves as a significant example of how blurred the conceived demarcated divisions of mind/body/behavior can be.
It is very reasonable to conclude that research on depression of those who identify as gay, lesbian or transsexual is not accurate; there is an underreporting of people who identify as these sexual orientations because of the fear of being different. It is understood that those apart of the LGBTQ community actively hide their identity in hopes to avoid being rejected or abused (Bird, 2013). Once the reporting issue of having a smaller percentage of the actual representation of the LGBTQ population is put aside, there is evidence that highly suggests that lesbians and gay men are at higher risk for psychiatric disorders than heterosexuals (Cochran, 2001). Even after underreporting, there is still enough information to conclude that sexual discrimination can have harmful effects on the quality of life. Common factors that have been observed in lesbians and gays that can potentially increase depression during Cochran's study are anxiety and mood disorders and decreased self esteem. Cochran and her partner also noted that dissatisfaction with how one is treated beca...
Some of these methods include praying away the gay, electroconvulsive therapy, hypnosis, and drugs (“11 Ridiculous” 1). There are many camps designed for conversion therapy, but many of their practices remain secret. There is little information to be found online regarding these camps because they realize that they are behaving inappropriately, so they hide their acts. In the 1980s, homosexuality was determined to have a biological cause; this created two sides – supporters of conversion therapy and its detractors (Friedman 1). Though many consider homosexuality a mental illness, different studies have proven that it is a biological phenomenon and should not be treated like a mental illness such as is done in conversion therapy....
Despite the large collection of literature of sexuality that has been accumulating, human asexuality has been largely ignored. Asexuality is controversially considered to be a sexual orientation and people who identify as asexual are people who typically do not experience sexual attraction (Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, 2013). Though research on sex and sexual orientations has been done for centuries, the first real suggestion that there might be people who fall outside of the heterosexual – homosexual orientation spectrum came from Kinsey and colleagues in 1948. These individuals were put into a separate category and were identified as having no erotic response to hetero- or homosexual stimuli, but otherwise they were largely ignored by the researchers (Kinsey, 1953). Later, researchers linked asexuality with negative traits and pathologies, including depression and lower self-esteem (Masters, Johnson, & Kolodny, 1986; Nuius, 1983). An issue with these studies, however, is that the researchers defined asexuality in a way that most current asexuals do not agree with. For example, in a study done by Bell and Weinberg (1978), there were references made to asexual homosexuals who simply hid their homosexuality. Many asexuals, otherwise known as Aces, would struggle with this definition because homosexuality implies a type of sexual attraction: attraction to your same sex. Because Aces typically do not feel sexual attraction to anyone or anything, they should not be classified under the same label as a closeted homosexual. Another issue is that none of these studies actually focused on asexuality. Instead, they were added on the side and generally ignored.
To begin with, sexual orientation can be determined by more than one factor and is not the same for everybody. According to the American Psychological Association:
There are many examples of this harassment. In her book "The Riddle of Gender", Deborah Rudacille discusses how people she knew reacted to her friend coming out as transgender. According to the Human Rights Campaign, "minors are especially vulnerable, and conversion therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, and suicide. " Conversion therapy is a horrific practice that should be banned in all fifty states.
We believe that Violence and hate against homosexuality need to diminish severely. Gay bashing, gay bullying, and hate crime is very popular when it comes to hating on homosexual people. LGBT people of all ages die every year, whether caused by suicide, injury or homicide. From 1999-2010, the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program says that suicide is the 3rd leading cause (4,600 deaths) of death among young people ages 15 to 24. In 2011 there were 1,572 victims that received hate crimes based on sexual orientation. In an article on PBS, written by a woman named Karen Franklin, a description of an interview with a man called Brian states that him and his ...