Homosexuality.....a socially acceptable mental illness? [Archive]

Sheer Bliss

29-07-2009, 19:39

I had a discussion with somone (who is ever so slightly homo-phobic) and their opinion is that homosexuality is just another mental illness. In his opinion it's just not natural, it's not normal and it's not how we were intended to live.
As far as he is concerned, we institutionalise/criminalise people for all sorts of different things, and it just so happens that the line in the sand has been drawn to determine homosexuals as acceptable, whereas those with bi-polar to be unacceptable.....

Do you agree/disagree?

Fuchsia!

29-07-2009, 19:43

Strongly disagree. I think the people who are homophobic are the ones with the mental disorder.

Nomsie

29-07-2009, 19:44

:no: :no: :no:

It's not an illness... there is nothing "biologically" wrong with homosexuals... In fact, I don't get what is wrong about them at all? :confused:

cluckcluckcluck

29-07-2009, 19:46

wow... very very very strongly disagree.

Pax

29-07-2009, 19:48

What consenting adults do is no one's business but their own!

I think anyone that functions within society without doing any harm to anyone else is acceptable..

whatever label they have

rainbow road

29-07-2009, 19:50

big fat disagree from me!!!!!

They've done brain mapping and found nothing 'wrong' with homosexuals at all, a few differences to be found like homosexual males have similar brain patterns to heterosexual women etc.

I agree with jaxcoop, it's homophobia which is the greater illness!

sockstealingpoltergeist

29-07-2009, 19:50

No it isn't. It was removed from the list of mental disorders in the 70's for good reason.

Mathermy

29-07-2009, 19:50

Strongly disagree. I think the people who are homophobic are the ones with the mental disorder.

Right on!:D

Chunkydunks

29-07-2009, 19:52

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing: OMG that is the strangest thing I've heard in a while.

I read it out to DH and he said....oh well, can't change the ignorant can ya.

delirium

29-07-2009, 19:52

Wow this Social Issues section is getting a work out :laughing:

I think it's ridiculous to suggest that homosexuality is a mental illness. I'm hetrosexual and I find that insulting, I can't help but think what gay people think. Up until recently even the psychiatry field has pathologised it as an illness, but thankfully have rethought their stance.

~Temet Nosce~

29-07-2009, 19:53

I think this is one thing we can all agree on, that we strongly disagree!

Nowhere

29-07-2009, 19:54

WTF its not a mental illness, OMG some people seriously lack a clue

Veritas

29-07-2009, 19:56

:laughing::laughing: Oh dear...... I'm pretty sure my attractions and relationships with females have been just as natural and normal as those I have had with men.....

So big fat disagree from me..... certainly not in need of treatment for a mental illness!

Mummaholic

29-07-2009, 20:00

I most strongly feel it isn't.

codswallop

29-07-2009, 20:06

Cudds

29-07-2009, 20:09

I strongly disagree.

29-07-2009, 20:11

Wow this Social Issues section is getting a work out :laughing:

Tell me about it :rolleyes:

:laughing:

And to the OP, I disagree. It is not an illness.

Opinionated

29-07-2009, 20:12

Strongly disagree.

AwwDad

29-07-2009, 20:12

I most definately disagree with the statement! and find it offensive that someone would think that homosexuality is a mental illness.

polony

29-07-2009, 20:14

Hahahaha! He was joking right?

Seriously, some people are so narrow-minded and so loud with their own opinions that all you can do is laugh...

So yes, that is a big fat, NO to being a mental illness. It is a natural part of life.

Leisa21

29-07-2009, 20:21

I most definately disagree with the statement! and find it offensive that someone would think that homosexuality is a mental illness.
:iagree:If someone said that to me I'd have to stop myself from whacking them one. Seriously, what a joke!

Ana Gram

29-07-2009, 20:52

Was this -> :eek: the look on your face?

The mind boggles at the idea some people believe...

Pippi Longstocking

30-07-2009, 06:47

Good grief. I guess there are still a few weirdos around with frighteningly outdated thinking eh? :laughing:

zenifa

30-07-2009, 07:40

I strongly disagree

There are so many things that person said in that OP (not the poster, the homo-phobe) that offended me on so many levels..........not just the homophobia but that people with bipolar have a socially unacceptable mental illness.

As someone who works with people with mental illness and gay people, its offensive on so many levels, I'm gobsmacked.....:eek::confused::banghead:

2girls&1boy

30-07-2009, 07:40

I strongly disagree.

You would probably find when this daft person was ever to be confronted by one of those so called mentally disturbed homosexuals then he wouldn't have such strong opinions.

Sheer Bliss

30-07-2009, 07:41

no i dont agree
hell thats just crazy talk!:p
but what do you mean that those poor sods who have "Bi-polar" are unacceptable???:rain:

:no: Don't get me confused here....it wasn't me that said it...just repeating comments from a conversation with someone else.

What he said was that bi-polar was unacceptable as in 'not normal' and it is treated with medication to make the person 'normal' whereas it is accepted that being gay is 'normal' and there is no need to medicate or to have therapy/councilling.

He said he sorta was joking, but sorta for real....he doesn't really think that they are ill, but thinks it's interesting how we deem some things to be OK, and others not. He also used the example of paedophillia being unacceptable here, but it's ok for people to do so in other countries. The bar is moved, depending on what culture you are in etc. What is really right and what is really wrong. Just because we don't know what it is that makes someone gay, doesn't mean that it isn't a 'fault' sort-of thing. Being gay was just the easiest example to think of....

SweetSerenity

30-07-2009, 07:47

Totally disagree...

My brother is homosexual and there is nothing "mentally ill" about him...:no:

Homosexuality doesn't impact their lives in a negative manner, make them self harm or make them unstable, so how can it be compared to a mental illness like "Bi-polar" where it can have that affect.

People who suffer from Bi-Polar can have their illness treated with medication to help the quality of their life, homosexuality does not even come close to being in the same basket.

If people who are homosexual DO harm themselves, become unstable or have it impact their lives in a negative manner, it's not because they are ill, it's because of the horrible ill people around them who bully them, harrass them and make them feel like they don't belong. The ones who drive them into a depression are to blame, not their sexuality!

What a disgusting comparison!

Pax

30-07-2009, 07:47

:no: Don't get me confused here....it wasn't me that said it...just repeating comments from a conversation with someone else.

What he said was that bi-polar was unacceptable as in 'not normal' and it is treated with medication to make the person 'normal' whereas it is accepted that being gay is 'normal' and there is no need to medicate or to have therapy/councilling.

He said he sorta was joking, but sorta for real....he doesn't really think that they are ill, but thinks it's interesting how we deem some things to be OK, and others not. He also used the example of paedophillia being unacceptable here, but it's ok for people to do so in other countries. The bar is moved, depending on what culture you are in etc. What is really right and what is really wrong. Just because we don't know what it is that makes someone gay, doesn't mean that it isn't a 'fault' sort-of thing. Being gay was just the easiest example to think of....

I think your friend certainly sounds like a thinker :laughing: gotta give him that credit. it would have been a very interesting conversation to have

Pippi Longstocking

30-07-2009, 07:47

He said he sorta was joking, but sorta for real

And I think he's sorta an eejit. :yes:

jaq

30-07-2009, 07:49

No it isn't. It was removed from the list of mental disorders in the 70's for good reason.

This might be the nub of the mattter. Tell your friend (or not-friend!) that his data is more than 40 years out of date. Shame prejudice doesn't have an expiry date :(

ETA: As any anthropologist will tell you, sex before puberty is actually outlawed in the huge majority of cultures around the world. It is one of the most enduring and consistent taboos around the world. The taboo is most often broken when formerly intact cultures are disintegrating under social pressure ... because the west doesn't "allow" children's sexual exploitation, pedophiles take their power and money to places where they CAN procure children. That has very little to do with the original culture of those nations.

Basically, his thinking is scientifically unsound on any number of levels ...

delirium

30-07-2009, 08:00

Homosexuality doesn't impact their lives in a negative manner, make them self harm or make them unstable, so how can it be compared to a mental illness like "Bi-polar" where it can have that affect.

:iagree:Really the definition of having any problem is that it is negatively affecting your life. The only ways that homosexuality is a problem are external influences from society and the judgements they make.

DoubleDelight

30-07-2009, 08:39

This narrow view that there is only one acceptable sexuality is mystifying. People have all different hues of skin, eye, hair colour yet we cannot accept that the sexuality of humans comes in varying degrees on the spectrum.

SassyMummy

30-07-2009, 13:16

So in all ways a homosexual person is "normal"... the only real difference between a homosexual and a heterosexual is that one loves the opposite sex, and one loves the same.

I think it's all just preference tbh. I don't think it's an active decision made, but I also don't believe it to be an illness.

And, even though many will disagree with me, I think we're all bisexual, on varying degrees.

As for gay being unnatural... well, I dunno. Even animals have homosexual relationships... I think it must be fairly natural if wild animals do it.

Mrs Nietzsche

30-07-2009, 13:35

It is interesting. But unfortunately it is difficult to explore it without there being potentially negative consequences/ implications drawn.

I saw this theory once that argued that the existence of homosexuality was to provide the tribe with additional helpers, unburdened by their own kids - who knows.

I don't think you cuold ever say homosexuality is an illness, any more than being left-handed is an illness. It is a feature of a person - one that perhaps wasn't intended by 'nature'.

Yuo would think if it was a matter of very simple genetics it would have died out eons ago. That homosexuality remains such a stable presence I think suggests it is either adaptive in some way, or is linked to some other adaptive trait.

But again, who knows.

I think I saw a theory also that said it was about hormone exposure in the womb or something?

IN any case, I would never think of homosexuality as an illness, and certainly not a mental illness. Mental illness suggests it can be(and should be?) cured.

SweetSerenity

30-07-2009, 13:42

The thing I hate the most is when people refer to homosexuality as a "choice"...GRRR the most un-true statement I have ever heard!

Not referring to anything said in this thread, just a general statement.

JamieJustDoes

30-07-2009, 13:48

aaaaaak!

what an awful topic to debate!

I think there are too many boxes that we put ourselves in! People love each other. People have sex. And as long as they're adults, choosing their partners willingly, then who are we to comment?

Lillynix

30-07-2009, 20:23

PFFT this "someone" is clearly a nutjob!

Of course homosexuality is not a mental illness, what a ludicris thought! I mean really, who's to say that heterosexuality isn't a mental illness?

This persons thought process and logic is totally flawed.

Meh. You are who you are and you love who you love, gender aside.

HollyHotLips

31-07-2009, 18:08

So if homosexuality is no-one's fault becuase it's how they were born, what about pedophiles? Surely they are born with feelings they have no control over?

And before anyone jumps down my throat:

a) I do not think homosexuality is any sort of illness, mental or otherwise and is perfectly normal

b) I do not agree with pedophilia in any way, shape or form

Just wanted to throw another idea into the melting pot really, see what others think.