Homosexuality was removed from the list of mental illnesses by the American Psychiatric Association in 1973. Here’s why I think we should put it back.
It’s a choice, in the same way glasses are a choice. I know what you’re thinking: glasses are not a choice. I only wear glasses because I need them to see. But if I told you that it was possible to see without glasses, what would you say? We’ve proven this over and over again. William Bates did all the work in the 1920s. So if it is possible for you to see without glasses, yet you use them, that is a choice. And that choice is causing your brain to operate at a less than optimal level.
We all have our issues. But the difference here is the ability to identify them as issues. When society begins to accept or even embrace it, the fine line between right and wrong becomes blurred.
Some correlations with homosexuality:
- Higher rates of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder and substance use or dependence in lesbian and gay youth.
- Higher rates of recurrent major depression among gay men.
- A fourfold increase of the likelihood of suicide in LBGT youth.
- Higher rates of anxiety, mood and substance use disorders, and suicidal thoughts among people ages 15 to 54 with same-sex partners.
- Higher use of mental health services in men and women reporting same-sex partners.
If being gay is correlated with negative mental health, why are people gay? Because society and culture have told them that they were born that way. They have forgotten how to piece apart what’s right and what’s wrong in this perspective. If your group of friends was based on the worst thing that you did, who would you hang out with?
If we view being gay as a suboptimal mental state, it would make sense to be associated with disorders associated with suboptimal mental states. Remember: There is Only One Brain Disease.
While obviously frowned upon by most realms of contemporary ethics, there have been multiple case studies to show that homosexuality is reversible. That’s important, because with our view of the brain, that means it’s always reversible. By what mechanism, I don’t know.
In looking at past research in homosexuality, here are the flaws I see in the logic: if we don’t know why it’s wrong, it must be right. If we don’t know how to reverse it, it must be irreversible, and thus something that we must accept.
If being homosexual is operating in a sub-optimal mental state, it is impossible to become your best self without challenging the deep-rooted logic that has become part of your being. When you begin to doubt the feelings that society has told you to embrace, you will start to rediscover your true self.
Sources:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4887282/
- https://www.cdc.gov/msmhealth/mental-health.htm
- https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LGBTQ_MentalHealth_OnePager.pdf
- https://www.apa.org/monitor/feb02/newdata
- https://psychology.ucdavis.edu/rainbow/html/facts_mental_health.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy
- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/12/lgbt-mental-health-sexuality-gender-identity
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4936529/
- https://www.hrc.org/blog/flashbackfriday-today-in-1973-the-apa-removed-homosexuality-from-list-of-me
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