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Medical Video: Why Is There Homosexuality?
A small group of psychotherapists think that yes, homosexuality is a mental illness that makes people like same-sex. And they are currently undergoing a special mission to "cure" those who suffer - with a reverse therapy. But can gay be cured?
As the name implies, reversal therapy aims to help gay people and lesbians to change their sexual orientation from homosexuals to heterosexuals (sex opponents). But can gay be cured? And if yes, is this therapy really effective for returning those who are "lost" back to the right path?
What are the reversing therapy procedures to cure gay and lesbian?
The desire to change homosexuality has taken root since decades ago. Often, homosexuality is linked to symptoms of depression and childhood trauma. In 1920, Sigmund Freud wrote about a father wanting his daughter to be transformed into a normal lesbian and like a man. Freud then canceled the therapy because he considered this therapy impossible to succeed.
A few years later, Freud refused to treat a homosexual child by reasoning that homosexuality was "not something shameful, not a disability, or an ugliness; homosexuality cannot be classified as a disease. "
Psychologists in the early mid-1900s believed gay could be cured and recommended various treatments. One attempt at ancient reversal therapy carried out by Vienna endocrinologist Eugen Steinach who transplanted testicles from "normal" men to the testicles of gay men was an attempt to free them from the desire for same-sex sexual attraction. This effort failed miserably.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, reversing therapy used torture methods such as electric shock to create seizures with memory loss, or giving them nausea stimulants while showing them same-sex pornographic images so that they could associate homosexuality with traumatic unpleasant experiences. Other methods include psychoanalysis or speech therapy, treatment of estrogen to reduce libido in men. In some countries this technique is still being carried out.
In the UK, for example. At the age of 12 years, Samuel Brinton was forced to undergo reversal therapy for many years. During therapy, he submitted to the program design which required holding a block of ice cubes for hours and at other sessions, the therapist handling the Brinton case shocked his body, Brinton's hands were burned and stabbed repeatedly, while pictures of two men making love were shown - so that he can associate homosexuality with pain. At other times, he was forced to inhale the smell of his own feces for hours while looking at pictures of gay men.
Reversal therapy so that gays can be cured, including torture
There are two main concerns about homosexual reversing therapy. First, conversion therapy has long been questioned about the legality of professional standards and ethics, as well as issues that are greater than therapist accountability and patient well-being, which apply to all areas of mental health practice. Conversion therapy is not considered a major psychological treatment, so there is never a professional standard or concrete guidelines about how it is done.
Moreover, homosexuality is not considered a mental disorder, so the American Psychological Association (APA) does not recommend "cure" same-sex attraction in any case. Homosexuality has long been removed from the category of mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) manual since 1973. The world ethics of modern psychology and medicine instructs every health professional to submit to treatment methods that support human dignity. Gay conversion therapy does not fulfill all of these conditions.
Second, not only has the evidence so far shown that conversion therapy is unethical and irresponsible, but this therapy is also supported by inadequate and highly questionable "scientific evidence". Never strong scientific evidence is able to show that human sexual orientation can be changed. There is also no empirical support to support this idea of change. In addition, these studies have found that effective conversion therapy makes gay treatable and even harmful to "patients". Negative effects include "loss of sexual desire and tendency, depression, anxiety disorders, and suicide.
To date, the United Nations Committee Against Torture has not categorized conversion therapy as one type of cruel and inhuman torture; However, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) has submitted a proposal for the United Nations to hasten their decision.
