Stop Calling it a Disease for Fucks Sake ……..
You’ll never have a local community ans I really have no business writing this, I’m not in your shoes and could never imagine being in them but I figured a good kick up the backside (no pun intended) might help you savvy up and do something.
I could never be a great doctor, I could be a safe one, competent one, funny one but never a good one …… and that’s because I never know when to shut up.
Over the past two years I’ve seen a disease or a defintion of one raise it’s ugly head from the depths after it was quashed back in the 70′s by men and women far braver and more enlightened than I could ever be. Way back then some people, mainly in the medical community tried to formulate some kind of disease based on a broad definition, namely wanting to fuck, dress or sound like anything but your own sex. These people were the American Psychiatric Association (or APA) and they are the ones responsible for THE book on psychiatric disorders known as the diagnostics and statistics manual or DSM.
The way that modern psychiatry works is actually quiet interesting in that it has pretty much been standardised into a check list of symptoms for each condition and has all the conditions marked out in a book (known as the DSM) and every couple of years since the 1950′s there has been a new addition of the book with a new list of illnesses based on discoveries and reviews by committees formed and funded by the APA. The last version of the book with a deifintion of gender identity disorder was the DSM III back in 1970 and back then (as is the case with many ignorant bigots now) there was no clear difference between criteria for gender identity disorder (man in womans body/ woman in mans body) and sexual orientation (liking the hoo hoo or the pee pee or perhaps both).
Thankfully gender identity disorder was thrown out thanks to lobbying by many people in the field but more importantly people in the community who understood the implication of labelling sexuality as a disease and all that remains of it is a vague vestigial definition 4 lines long in DSM 4 that no body reads.
After all, where should the line be drawn when diagnosing someone with a disease and what diagnostic value does it provide? what is the mechanism involved? Chances are there aren’t any answers to these questions because there is no disease….. people have preferences, I can’t live without the hoo hoo, some of us can’t live without the dongle, other still wish the had one, but how does that kill anybody?
Unfortunately, as the APA began to formulate the next edition of their yellowpages of psychiatric illness and disease, they decided it’s high time they re-introduced gender identity disorder and form a committee of “experts” to do it and interestingly enough not only has the committee been charged with the task of making the windows 7 of psychiatry, they’ve also decided to formulate criteria for childhood and adolescent gender identity disorders.
Now, many of you might think that defining and trying to identify things like if your child is gay/straight/bi/likes new kids on the block is a good thing, but I’d argue that in your heart of hearts you really don’t care and you’ll love them just the same. Alot of people would also argue that you can save them, but that would only be true if it were an actual disease rather than simply a harmless preference similar to ones preference for alchol or a particular flavour of icecream. And some will argue that there’s nothing wrong with trying to “catch and treat them early” ……. chances are there is ….. people like the World Professional Association for Transgender Health wouldn’t know how to treat a head ache if you put panadol in their left hand and a cup of water in their right ….. like many ignorant bastards all they do is try to brainwash the young.
So if you are like me, these people and 9,550 others who can’t shut the fuck up and won’t let their kids be stigmitised and treated like leopars by a bunch of fuddy duddies and crazy teachers (not all of you are crazy ….. but some …… ugh ….) let your voice be heard and send these people an email …….
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Oct 28th 2009 • 21:10
by mssenos
lesbian i understand.. girls r hot that way. but gays? i just can’t see it to be honest.. men are too hairy and just not v physically appealing r they?
that being said, to each his/her own i guess
whtever rocks ur boat!
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KTDP Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
@mssenos,
We tend to answer these types of questions incorrectly. We shouldn’t be asking our selves how can someone accept being gay. WE should be asking our selves, can we really call being gay a medical condition? and if we do; do we really want to be put in a position in which a teacher at a school might have the power to call upon a service to “ungay” your son or daughter based on an arbitrary definition.
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mssenos Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
@KTDP, i get what ur saying. i’m against it too, ofcourse. but, this is human nature. we alway try to control the variables. we want to “normalize” everything. ehya bs 3la salfat homo- or heterosexual? fat should be thin. pale shud be tanned. or in our case, tanned shud be pale.no variations r acceptable. 7a6en the perfect image in a box wetha 6l3t bara this box then there is smthng wrong with u! wela laish m5tr3en qsm el psychaitry a9lan? we will never come to accept that not everyone is the same o ena its OKAY to be different. al7yn el homosexual, bacher y6l3olek salfa thanya.
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KTDP Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
@mssenos,
it’s a sad state of affair when you can pay a committee of people to sit around an make a list for preferences and call it a disease. It has implications on healthcare as a whole. Another completely unrelated example is how we define sepsis or infection in the blood, it’s currently very arbitrary and committee based, this will lead to confusion, nothing more and nothing less.
Oct 29th 2009 • 23:10
by Aurous
we live in an age where everything is medicalized… there is nothing new in that ;p
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KTDP Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
@Aurous,
true but if you’re fat and a pre-diabetic then there may be a benefit in labelling and treating you early, however I still can’t see any benefit in labelling someone with juvenile gender identity disorder t the age of 11 …….
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Oct 30th 2009 • 00:10
by mssenos
an addition to ur article, homosexuality could be attributed to different hormonal levels in females and males. Masculinity is associated with a higher testosterone level. While those with less, are more likely to be more feminine. While women with more testosterone, act more masculine. However, these studies are inconclusive. another study looks at the response of males and females to estrogen. It has been found that, homosexuals might hv a more feminine hypothalamus, which would lead to a more feminine response. (got this from the net)
That being said, we can’t overlook something. Playing the devil’s advocate, sexual identity is formed really young in life. A person identifies him/herself as male or female around the ages of 3-4 (maybe younger I cnt rmbr the ages exactly). When homosexuals are interviewed, they claim they hv felt this way since “we were kids.” Well, u hv to think, could they hv mis- identified themselves. Some say, “I feel like a women trapped in a man’s body,” or vice versa. Hmm? A question that really interests me, could upbringing hv anyth to do with it? Like, if a person comes from a loving, warm family would they be more “normal.” Or r the statistics the same? Anyway, mabe a6awel. Oo I agree with u that it’s wrong and stuff. Just wanted to add somethings
[Reply]
KTDP Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 12:21 am
@mssenos,
prove that testosterone makes you man and that eostrogen makes you a woman. Prove that gender identity and homosexuality are linked then find the genes for it and prove that being gay or having gender identity disorder is detrimental to your health then we’ll talk.
I dare you to pose the STD argument …….
[Reply]
mssenos Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 12:58 am
@KTDP, Ok I laughed at the std comment. And btw, I was AGREEING with u! abaah, shkther t7b elmnajer!
So lets see, what makes a woman, a woman.
The external: u hv the primary and secondary sexual characteristics. Genital organs, fat distribution, etc
Internal: the uterus oo a97aba..
What makes a man, a man.. well physically, it’s the penis and testes..
Anyway, in the womb, at the beginning, we are all females, 9a7? B3dyn, when the fetus( fetus or embryo?) is exposed to testosterone the male genitalia begins to develop. That proves testosterone makes u a man. The absence of testosterone = female (6b3en hatha kla dependent 3al x’s oo el y’s)
Not to mention puberty. For women u need estrogen. For men u need testosterone. During puberty, in females shwaya yzeed el testosterone which accounts for the hair growth, especially in places like the axilla, pubic area, etc (mainly known as “male” characteristics)
Now to the gender identity, I wasn’t talking abt genetics. I was talking abt environmental factors. And that I’m afraid can’t be proven accurately. However, studies have shown that children learn abt their sexuality at a very young age. Dn’t u rmbr the, “I’ll show u mine if u show me urs” routine? And the playing “doctor” phase? I think it’s quite possible a child could get confused. And it might (notice the use of the word might) contribute to homosexuality. It’s a theory anyway.
Now abt health, sweetie it so is. Hv u ever heard abt gay bashing? Not to mention the, “why am I not normal?” thoughts. I’m heterosexual and I’m accepted oo I still feel out of place. 3yal shlon ohma msakeen. my heart goes out for them.
I repeat, I am with u.. oo the only reason I wrote my other comment was to add not contradict. So gv me a break, will ya..
[Reply]
KTDP Reply:
October 30th, 2009 at 1:11 am
@mssenos,
I like seeing things through. not really argueing more like exploring.
Deifnitions of male and female lie on a spectrum. The people diagnosing you will rarely ask if the serum concentration of a hormone is important or the cellular concentration is. I know the answer because I took the time to look it up. Another question they don’t ask is if hormone levels are related to body whieght or nutrition (which they are to some extent). Hormones are funny things, people rarely know what’s going on with them but know how to fix them.
Kudos on touching on the psych aspects though, it’s becoming increasingly important …..
This is what happens when KTDP is bored ….. apologies …..
Oct 30th 2009 • 01:10
by mssenos
no apologizes needed ;p
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Oct 30th 2009 • 01:10
by mssenos
apologies*
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Oct 30th 2009 • 12:10
by rocky
Deifnitions of male and female lie on a spectrum. The people diagnosing you will rarely ask if the serum concentration of a hormone is important or the cellular concentration is. I know the answer because I took the time to look it up. Another question they don’t ask is if hormone levels are related to body whieght or nutrition (which they are to some extent). Hormones are funny things, people rarely know what’s going on with them but know how to fix them.
[Reply]
KTDP Reply:
October 31st, 2009 at 9:31 pm
@rocky,
damn spam bots ……
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Nov 1st 2009 • 06:11
by MBH
If it happened in the US, then most likely a group of Christians and religious fanatics are behind it.
Think of it this way:
You’re a parent who was just told by your 16 year-old son that he decided that he’s gay.
Family values, virtues, religious beliefs all thrown out of the window. You’re devastated. What do you do? You convince your son that it’s a disease and that it’s curable.
I don’t know to what extent that would work, but I can assure you that you’d have less dumb gays out there…
[Reply]
KTDP Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:26 am
@MBH,
I’m confused. Do you think it’s a good idea or it’s understandable. and what does being straight or gay have to do with intelligence.
I have one person telling me it’s hormonal and the other telling me you can root them out with an IQ test.
[Reply]
MBH Reply:
November 1st, 2009 at 7:35 am
@KTDP,
It’s dumb to call it a disease, but I can understand the reason behind it, if the lobbying group was a bunch of religious people.
Hormonal? Ma7ad hormonal! It’s all in their head.
My point about having less dumb gays is that if the kid actually believes that it’s a disease, then the kid is dumb (assuming 15-16+ years old).
[Reply]
KTDP Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:12 am
@MBH,
in their head ????
I’m probably one of the very few people who’s just going to say that I don’t know and think that it’s something preferencial and very much on a spectrum and should not be considered pathological at all.
MBH Reply:
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 am
@KTDP,
Hmmm, actually that’s what I meant, but I guess I used the wrong words, and now that you mention it, the words that I chose make a lot of difference.
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Nov 15th 2009 • 21:11
by MBH
This may be of interest to you: http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/11/14/2023219/Environmental-Chemicals-Are-Feminizing-Boys
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Dec 4th 2009 • 22:12
by back care products
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbour were just preparing to do some research about this. I am very thankful to see such great info being shared freely out there.
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