Is homosexuality a disease or not? Reasons, signs, studies and opinions of doctors

Some people in our progressive age believe that homosexuality is a disease. Such an opinion cannot be considered true, since there is no such diagnosis in the list of the international classification of diseases. If just a century ago, having an unconventional sexual orientation was considered something unworthy, then today even public people - actors, artists, fashion designers, etc. do not hesitate to admit their preferences. Is homosexuality a disease? Homophobes (people who hate and are aggressive towards men who are attracted to their gender) think so. However, the version of traditional psychiatry differs from the opinion of homophobes.

Psychiatry's Opinion on Human Sexual Orientation

The relationship of a person’s sexual orientation and his mental state has been debated for a long time around the world. Is homosexuality a disease? And if so, is it possible to cure her, to return to a man the attraction to individuals of the opposite sex? At first glance, attraction to the representatives of one’s own sex is precisely a disease, since such relationships cannot lead to procreation and the birth of children. However, in our modern world, which is already "bursting at the seams" from overpopulation, this issue has ceased to be as relevant as, for example, 200-300 years ago. The number of human population is already growing rapidly, and the issue of the relevance of reproduction and procreation goes by the wayside. Today, the answer of modern psychiatry to the question of whether homosexuality is a disease or not, is unequivocal - no, it is not. The list of international classification of diseases does not contain such a disease.

How exactly do modern psychiatrists interpret the term “homosexuality”? Is it a disease or just a whim, a desire to "have fun"? Maybe these are the consequences of psychological and physical injuries that were received by a man at an early age? Is homosexuality a disease? No, this is a kind of developmental feature, a personal characteristic, but not pathology in the literal sense of the word.

Attitude to homosexuality in modern society

Homosexuality, according to the modern school of psychiatry, is a violation of the psychosexual development of a male person, which leads in one way or another to the emergence of sexual interest in people of their gender. This is the so-called deviation, but not a disease in the literal sense of the word.

Homosexuality should be attributed to disorders associated with a violation of a person’s sexual identification - sexual deviation. Some psychiatrists still believe that homosexuality is a mental illness that requires treatment as well as phobias, anxiety and depressive disorders. Allegedly, homosexuality is sexual behavior and preferences that were received by a person during his life, and not acquired with birth, not innate. Based on this view, we can conclude that homosexuality can be cured - if you find a way to "reflash" the relationship obtained by a homosexual.

But is it necessary for the most “sick” person? Indeed, most often they live a happy and full life, which any “healthy” people with a traditional sexual orientation would envy. Heterosexuals often have a much greater number of random sexual intercourse and far from always can call themselves happy.

The famous Dutch psychiatrist Johan Leonard, who devoted a lot of time to researching the phenomenon of non-traditional sexual orientation, wrote: “For many years of my practice, I have never seen a healthy and happy homosexual, homosexuality is not a hereditary disease, it is just a symptom of a certain neurotic personality disorder.” However, this statement is rather controversial - in fact, only homosexuals who realize their inferiority turn to a psychotherapist are usually caused by an extremely negative attitude to homosexuality on the part of society. How can a person be happy, whose views are often ridiculed even by their own parents and closest friends? Of course, he cannot call himself happy, he thinks that he is sick - that is why he is forced to turn to a psychotherapist for help. In progressive, developed countries, where the phenomenon of homophobia is being eradicated, people with non-traditional sexual orientation feel completely happy.

Symptoms: how and in what is unconventional sexual orientation in a man

Modern psychiatry identifies the following criteria by which we can talk about the presence of non-traditional sexual orientation among members of the stronger sex:

• sexual interest in men and the complete lack thereof in women;
• almost always the body of a mature woman can cause negative emotions, up to and including disgust;
• a tendency to sexual deviations of a different plan - often to the liking of games with dominance and submission, binding, etc .;
• propensity to create illusions and self-image, which does not correspond with reality;
• do not consider their deviation a problem, do not think about whether homosexuality is a disease;
• prone to shocking appearance - often the desire to make up the face and eyes, make-up, wear bright and tight clothes is irresistible, even if there is a risk of aggression from surrounding homophobes;
• many people with non-traditional sexual orientation, even having one regular partner, are inclined to feel desire for other men.

How to recognize homosexuality in a child at an early age? As a rule, homosexuality can be recognized already in the first ten years of the life of a future man. To do this, you need to be a rather attentive specialist, since the signs of homosexuality are quite easily confused with other manifestations of neuroticism, anxiety, and other psychiatric disorders. So, in a boy, the following symptoms of future gay orientation can be traced:

• the desire to play and interact (make friends, communicate) exclusively with people of their own gender;
• rejection of the basic characteristics of one’s own sex - masculinity, strength, responsibility;
• in role-playing games, willingly and with joy, tries on female roles - mothers, mistresses, daughters, wives;
• timidity, anxiety, even on irrelevant occasions;
• disgust and unwillingness to participate in team sports that require the manifestation of masculinity, strength, adoption of quick and responsible decisions.

Reasons for the development of gay sexual orientation in men

If we assume that homosexuality is a disease, then we can try to highlight the main stages of development of this deviation. According to those psychiatrists who believe that homosexuality can be "cured", the reasons for the development of this pathology are as follows:

• Scientists have been trying for many years to discover the “gene” of homosexuality, but they have not been able to do this - this fact indicates that deviation is not inherited - the reasons for its development are purely psychological. Studies conducted with identical twins proved that one of the brothers can be homosexual, while the other has a heterosexual orientation.
• Often the development of homosexual behavior in adulthood is preceded by the experience of rape in childhood by a man and the resulting psychological trauma.
• Voluntary homosexual experience in the past (it doesn’t matter in childhood or adolescence) also contributes to the development of persistent gay orientation.
• Character traits such as egocentrism and infantilism also contribute to a tendency to sexual perversions and, as a consequence, to homosexuality.
• Lack of care and communication on the part of the father, deprivation of the pope’s boy for one reason or another may become the reason for the development of non-traditional sexual orientation in the future (it is extremely undesirable to recreate the negative image of the father in the boy’s memory - this almost leads to an unhealthy perception of men by the boy).
• If the father suffered from alcoholism, physical violence took place in the house, the child often felt fear and did not feel happy - this can cause the development of various kinds of sexual deviations in the future.
• If the mother or other family members constantly punished the boy, ridiculed his vulnerability and anxiety, and applied cruel corporal punishment to him - in the future he may become bisexual or receive other problems and deviations of sexual development.
• If the mother desired the birth of her daughter more than the birth of her son, and raised the boy by over-custody of him, this could lead to the development of homosexuality in the future.
• Growing up in an environment that is filled with triggers of abusive sexual behavior is a "bad example is contagious." It is important to provide the boy with an interesting and varied leisure time that matches his gender role. A visit to radio engineering clubs, sports sections, and team sports is a great help.

Psychiatric diagnoses that may accompany homosexuality

As a rule, homosexuality is accompanied by the following psychiatric conditions and pathologies:

• suicidal thoughts;
• schizophrenia in varying degrees of severity;
• depressive, anxiety disorders;
• bipolar disorder;
• narcissism.

However, it cannot be stated with accuracy that homosexuality and mental disorders are always paired. Research and testing have shown that there are also mentally stable homosexuals who have not shown any symptoms of mental disorders. Modern psychiatry no longer raises the question - is homosexuality a disease, or a normal condition. Obviously, this is a kind of norm. But if a person with a different orientation has symptoms of other mental abnormalities at the same time, they should first of all deal with their therapy. Whatever the reasons for homosexuality, this deviation is secondary. The first thing to do is to treat depression and similar disorders, which are really diseases.

The treatment of homosexuality: myths and reality

Is it possible to return a heterosexual orientation to a person? This issue has long occupied the minds of psychiatrists. Therapy of homosexuality at the moment is not possible, and the most important question in this case is why to treat a person who is actually healthy. This question comes from the main: is homosexuality a disease? After all, if not, if a person is healthy - what kind of treatment can we talk about?

However, in the last century, quite a few experiments were carried out, sometimes cruel and humiliating for the patient, during which attempts were made to cure homosexuality as a “mental illness”.

The first researchers of homosexuality among psychologists came to the conclusion that homosexuality is a mental disorder or even a degenerative disease that should be treated. The treatment options, often forced, were offered a wide variety - from electroshock therapy to castration.

To date, the question "Is there a cure for homosexuality?" not relevant. This is a relic of the past. Since this pathology has not been included in the international classification of diseases (ICD-10) since 1990, talking about the "treatment" of homosexuality is incorrect and offensive to people with an unusual orientation.

The difference between bisexual and homosexual behavior

There is a slight difference between bisexual behavior (when a man is equally excited by both sexes) and homosexual (when a man is exclusively attracted to his own sex). From the point of view of modern psychiatry, both variants of sexual behavior are the norm and do not apply to painful conditions.

The causes of homosexuality and bisexual behavior are very similar and often lie on the same plane of psychology. However, if you dig deeper, it becomes clear that the degree of deviation directly depends on the initial qualities of a person’s character - how impressive, vulnerable, and anxious. Indeed, some children grow up in an incomplete family (as one of the possible causes of sexual deviations) and, as a result, have heterosexual deviation. And others grow up in an incomplete family, and their worldview, drives and character change once and for all.

Psychotherapy methods that may affect orientation

In the last century, psychiatrists tried to “cure” homosexuals with quite worthy methods of influence. In particular, these are:

1. Hypnosis is a method that involves introducing a patient into a deep trance, during which a hypnotherapist inspires a person with new attitudes, and works out his underlying character defects. This method proved its worthlessness - if the patient changed the orientation of his sexual desire, then only for a short time.
2. Replacing one sexual activity with another - that is, forced, forced treatment, which consisted in the fact that patients were forced to have sexual intercourse with a woman. This method has proved its complete inefficiency, and to speak about its inhumanity is not at all necessary.
3. The therapy for personality maturation consists in the fact that during regular conversations with the therapist, the patient works through his deepest injuries, as a result of which he can achieve peace and harmony with himself. The purpose of this therapy is not only to review your sexual preferences, but also to get rid of depressive and anxiety disorders.
4. Group therapy involves a discussion of their psychological state in a group of other patients. It has long been proven that psychologically it becomes easier for a person when he can share a problem with other people.
5. Individual psychotherapy involves a long (sometimes longer than one year) work with a psychotherapist in one patient. The frequency of sessions in each case is different, but, as a rule, at least four times a month to achieve a pronounced therapeutic effect. Such sessions are effective primarily for people with serious psychological problems, not only with homosexuality. Individual psychotherapy is indicated for people with depressive, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, etc.

Are there medications or pills for gay

If, if desired, the patient can work with a psychotherapist and adjust his internal attitudes - this may make sense and, first of all, benefit the person with a non-traditional orientation, then drug treatment makes no sense in such cases.

In the past century, some psychiatrists tried to treat homosexuality with drugs - with anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and even antipsychotics (which are very serious drugs that are addictive and have many side effects). Such drugs should be taken not by people who are “ill” with homosexuality, but people with real mental disorders who make life impossible without taking medications.

Is there prevention of homosexuality?

Today, one can only speculate about the effectiveness of certain preventive measures from the development of deviations in sexual behavior. One thing is for sure - if a child grows up in a full-fledged family, if he does not regularly observe inappropriate behavior of his parents, does not experience reasons for self-flagellation, is not subjected to ridicule and humiliation by his classmates, it can be said with confidence that in the future he is unlikely to suffer from different things kind of sexual deviations.

However, in such a delicate topic, it is certainly impossible to say something. Parents should not somehow focus on the topic of homosexuality if they notice the boy's feminine features in behavior. In some cases, this is temporary, sometimes not.One thing is for sure: if the parents, the closest people in the life of the child, start to ridicule him or punish him for simply trying to be himself, this will lead him to distance. And if for one reason or another the child begins to hate his parents, the psychological distance between them increases, then new problems may arise - communication with a bad company and others.