Shit my Psych teacher does! —Episode 08

[Previous episodes of Shit my Psych teacher does! can be accessed by clicking that title.]

So, today, my Psych teacher blatantly reaffirmed her homophobic beliefs by first implying (and then outright stating) that, “Homosexuality is a psychological disorder.” [Direct quote. I am not kidding.]

According to her, it was removed from the list of psychological disorders because the “homosexual community became politically active”. She further went on to say that “many homosexuals were being cured” before the mental disorder label was removed, and now “they can’t be cured anymore even if they wanted to”.

I hope I do not have to elaborate on what exactly is wrong with her statements.

Thus, instead of personally refuting what she said, I’m simply going to provide commentary from other sources.

First, let’s tackle, the “politically active” portion of her statement.

Decisions to include a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) are based on a careful consideration of the research underlying the disorder. This is not to say that decisions are made without regard to other considerations. Scientific data cannot be interpreted in a vacuum. […] For example, each proposed new diagnosis carries with it the risk of making a false positive diagnosis (i.e., making a diagnosis when no disorder is present). […] However, the overall driving force in the decision to include or exclude a potential diagnosis from the DSM is the availability of scientific data.

— American Psychiatric Association, in answer to a question about the involvement of “politics” in the making of the DSM (that big book of mental disorders)

Second, “homosexuality being cured”.

Such studies have been done, of course. But, are these studies really valid and reliable? Further research says…

The results seemed impressive: Of the 67 male and female patients with “homosexual dissatisfaction,” only 14 failed in the initial two-week “conversion” or “reversion” treatment.

[…]

Prior to the book’s publication, doubts arose about the validity of their case studies. Most staffers never met any of the conversion cases during the study period of 1968 through 1977. […] Marshall and Peggy Shearer, perhaps the clinic’s most experienced therapy team in the early 1970s, says they never treated homosexuals and heard virtually nothing about conversion therapy.

[…]

The success of Masters’s “gay conversion” therapy have never been proved.

— Scientific American (the comments are amazing here, by the way)

In case that isn’t convincing enough, here’s some more…

Most professional psychologists view reparative therapy skeptically, to say the least. In 2007 the American Psychological Association assembled a task force to study the effectiveness of this approach. After spending two years sifting through the available research—it evaluated eighty-three studies dating back to 1960—the group concluded that there was scant evidence that sexual orientation could be changed. What’s more, it found that attempting to do so could cause depression and suicidal tendencies among patients.

— Psychology Today

…and some more…

Sexual orientation is usually determined by adolescence, if not earlier (Bell et al, 1981), and there is no valid scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed (Haldeman, 1994; APA, 2000).

— Surgeon General David Satcher

…and one more, for propriety’s sake.

Many interventions aimed at changing sexual orientation have succeeded only in reducing or eliminating homosexual behavior rather than in creating or increasing heterosexual attractions. They have, in effect, deprived individuals of their capacity for sexual response to others.

[…]

Another problem in many published reports of “successful” conversion therapies is that the participants’ initial sexual orientation was never adequately assessed. Many bisexuals have been mislabeled as homosexuals with the consequence that the “successes” reported for the conversions actually have occurred among bisexuals who were highly motivated to adopt a heterosexual behavior pattern.

— UC Davis (I would suggest reading through this article—there’s some really great stuff here!)

Finally, let’s tackle the main idea of “Homosexuality is a psychological disorder” in relation to her argument—that most psychologists agree with her fallacious beliefs.

Well, apparently “most psychologists” do not include the ones in the American Medical Association…

Our AMA: […] (c) opposes, the use of “reparative” or “conversion” therapy that is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientation.

— American Medial Association

…and certainly not the ones in the American Psychiatric Association…

APA affirms its 1973 position that homosexuality per se is not a diagnosable mental disorder. Recent publicized efforts to repathologize homosexuality by claiming that it can be cured are often guided not by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for gay men and lesbians.

— American Psychiatric Association

…and let’s add the American Psychological Association to this list too…

Homosexuality per se implies no impairment injudgment, stability, reliability, or general social and vocational capabilities. Further, the American Psychological Association urges all mental health professionals to take the lead in removing the stigma of mental illness that has long been associated with homosexual orientations.

[…]

As in all psychoanalytic treatments, the goal of analysis with homosexual patients is understanding. Psychoanalytic technique does not encompass purposeful efforts to “convert” or “repair” an individual’s sexual orientation. Such directed efforts are against fundamental principles of psychoanalytic treatment and often result insubstantial psychological pain by reinforcing damaging internalized homophobic attitudes.

— American Psychological Association

…and I know Eric Holder isn’t a psychologist, but he does cite scientific sources…

After careful consideration, including review of a recommendation from me, the President of the United States has made the determination that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), 1 U.S.C. § 7, i as applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law, violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment.

[…]

Second, while sexual orientation carries no visible badge, a growing scientific consensus accepts that sexual orientation is a characteristic that is immutable, see Richard A. Posner, Sex and Reason 101 (1992).

— Attorney General Eric Holder

…and let’s just add every psychological/psychiatric association onto this list and be done.

…counseling may be helpful for you if you feel confused about your sexual identity. Avoid any treatments that claim to be able to change a person’s sexual orientation, or treatment ideas that see homosexuality as a sickness.

— American Academy of Pediatrics

…opposes portrayals of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and adults as mentally ill due to their sexual orientation; and supports the dissemination of accurate information about sexual orientation, mental health, and appropriate interventions in order to counteract bias that is based on ignorance or unfoundedbeliefs about same-gender sexual orientation. Further, in April 1999, the ACA Governing Council adopted a position opposing the promotion of “reparative therapy” as a “cure” for individuals who are homosexual.

— American Counseling Association

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and questioning (LGBTQ) youth often begin to experience self-identification during their pre-adolescent or adolescent years, as do heterosexual youth. These developmental processes are essential cognitive, emotional and social activities, and although they may have an impact on student development and achievement, they are not a sign of illness, mental disorder or emotional problems nor do they necessarily signify sexual activity…

— American School Counseling Association

[All quotes obtained from this publication. There are citations within said publication indicating the original sources, and the publication is endorsed by all of the above organizations.]

Additional Note: If one truly wishes, one can still receive conversion therapy (treatment to “cure” gayness), thus debunking the last part of her argument, that gays are not allowed to receive “treatment” anymore, even if they want to. [Here is one example of recent “conversions”. Trigger warning for religious fanatics. And, typing in “ex-gay” or “conversion therapy” into google will yield many more crackpots results.]

So, now that it is blatantly obvious (as if it wasn’t before) that queerness is not a disease (if anything, it should be a superpower, but I digress), I shall now direct you to this article: Homosexuality and Mental Health. Really informative, fairly objective, and an overall interesting read.

Apologies for my lack of humor in this episode. I’m sick and tired of my Psych teacher’s blatant disregard for her students (just think of how many queers she must’ve hurt with these comments during her teaching career!) and purposeful flaunting of hate speech. I just don’t have the patience right now, and for that I apologize.

I hope you join me next time on another exciting episode of Shit my Psych teacher does! (And, it’ll be a lot funnier. Pinky promise.)

Shit my Psych teacher does! —Episode 07

Hello, folks. Long time no see! Welcome to another episode of Shit my Psych teacher does! If you are new to the program and curious about what exactly I am talking about, clicking on the title will get you to a list of previous episodes. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy. Today, I’ll be debunking my Psych teacher’s adamant claim of homosexuality is a choice.

So, my Psych teacher has said on numerous (numerous, numerous, numerous) occasions that, “There is no proof that homosexuals were born gay. We don’t know whether they really were born gay or their homosexuality was a result of the practices that they engaged in.”

Yes. She really did say “the practices that they engaged in.” She has said it so often, in fact, that everytime I see that phrase, I hear her voice in my head. (Not a very comforting thought, by the way.)

Anyway, I already challenged this claim in a previous post. However, today, she added a sparkling, new, additional comment that screamed “B-I-G-O-T-R-Y!” 

The gist of what she said is this, “You can believe whatever you want to believe about homosexuality, but just know that there’s no hard evidence to support the fact that they were ‘born’ homosexual. Of course, I’m currently leaning towards ‘the practices that they engaged in’ because there’s more evidence for that.”

Whoa, back up there. Evidence? What evidence?

Sadly, she did not elaborate.

So, let’s backtrack a bit and consider what she said before. One of the few (actually, only) evidence I remember her giving about “homosexuality being a choice” was the brain differences between a homosexual and a heterosexual. She further went on to describe the brain differences between musicians and non-musicians before raising the question: “Are musicians born musicians, or did they build up more neural connections through practice? Are gays really born gay or did their brain change because of the practices they engaged in?”

Rather than refuting the basic idea of brain differences, let’s work with her basic argument and answer her question that way, shall we?

In short: for now, let’s simply “assume” that she is correct about brains being different between homosexuals and heterosexuals.

So, to answer her question, let’s look at some other examples of brain differences.

• Male and female brains (gender-wise) are different. [In this case, transgender individuals have brains that are more representative of their gender than their sex.]
• Left-handed people use different parts of their brain than right-handed people.
• Brain differences are apparent among those with mental disorders.

I am fairly certain that I was born female. I am most certainly born right-handed (though I could learn to write with my left-hand, it could never compare to my right). And, I am fairly certain I cannot simply wake up one morning and decide to become ADHD.

What does this mean? Well, if we take into consideration the evidence (that she so loves to rub in our faces), we can conclude that… Musicians were born musicians, and gay people are really born gay.

Not convinced? Let’s go back to the original premise of her argument then. She contends that musicians are not born musicians and gay people are not born gay because they learn to be musicians and gay through “the practices they engaged in.” Her proof is that there’s a difference in neural connections between musicians and non-musicians, homosexuals and heterosexuals.

Okay, so that might be true for musicians. (Might—notice how there’s no conclusive evidence. And, according to her, evidence is everything.)

But, homosexuals? Sorry to break it to you, Mrs. Psych teacher, but there are far more differences between homosexual and heterosexual brains for it to be just due to neural connections. [One hemisphere is larger than the other, for pete’s sake!]

Conclusive evidence? I think so. And, if this argument had been done in court, I would’ve gotten a Not Guilty verdict five paragraphs ago—Ace Attorney style!

[Also, proof that bisexuality is not a phase, for those interested: observational study of bisexual women reveals that most do not change their sexual orientation, brain chemical discovered that might cause bisexuality, and bisexuality has been observed in the animal kingdom.]

Anyway, thanks for tuning in to this issue of Shit my Psych teacher does! Tune in next time for some more exciting debunking!

Shit my Psych teacher does! - Compilation

So, after having to go through 20 pages to find these links, I decided to make a compilation of all the episodes of Shit my Psych teacher does! Some never before seen!

Episode 01 - First Contact
Episode 02 - Initial Debunking
Episode 03 - Help! My teacher is a bigot!
Episode 05 - Sexuality
Episode 06 - Climate Change
Episode 07 - Born this Way
Episode 08 - Mental Disorders

*Note: It seems I miscounted somewhere along the line, and I accidentally skipped from episode 03 to episode 05, so episode 04 doesn’t exist. I might make something to fill up the gap later but for now… oh well.

**Note: I have her for both Psychology and Statistics, so keep in mind that the derogatory rhetoric isn’t limited only to one class period. However, she says more bigoted things in Psych than in Stats; hence, the title.