I found this audio a while back, which recounts the story of the removal of homosexuality from the APA's DSM with first-hand testimony of many of the involved parties, on both sides. In my biased opinion, it does a fair job presenting the biases on both sides, the underhanded and unscientific approaches that both sides took. Homosexuals and their supporters were not "innocent", in as far as innocence is defined as promoting the change purely through scientific means. Neither was the side against them. I'd say it does a fair job giving the full picture, despite the fact that I (and the makers of the audio recording) are obviously more sympathetic to the side that ultimately won out. Some of my key takeaways from it are that we may be unfairly critical of some of the people who were against the change, who wanted to leave it as a mental illness. Not because they were "right", but because many of them had the best of intentions. I am somewhat sympathetic to the people who only felt that they were trying to help in the only way they knew how. It was founded on ignorance, but it was the best they knew, akin to people who were recommending cigarettes to people for their health benefits before the truth came out about them. The audio does a fair job presenting their side of the story. Beyond that, the audio highlights some quite lively debates and briefs on scientific literature that lead to the removal of the DSM, as well as more personal accounts of the story. It'd say it' a good read (or listen) for anybody that wants a good account of the whole picture. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/204/81-words
Excellent ,every LGBTI'er should be introduced to Scientific Arguments ,they will then see that Gay is a derogatory Term towards homosexuals ,Lesbians are politicians called radical feminists, and that Human Sexuality ,SHOULD NEVER become a political Football. homosexuality is as natural as any other form ,of human Sexuality ,one is born Homosexual as we are all born Sexual beings. Its not bad behaviours ,or mental disorder ,nor is it a Politically represented by the LGBTI. And one other thing NOR is it a Lifestyle choice ,being gay or lesbian are POLITICAL Lifestyle choices. Oh how I wait for the day ,When Proud liberated HOMOSEXUAL WOMEN, can say LOUDLY ,I AM A HOMOSEXUAL WOMAN ,and NOT a lesbian. Thus freeing their TRUE identity from the grips of the Lesbian Radical Feminist Trash! Who wallow in their Pathological ,insane man hatred. Lesbianism ,I would argue is a mental illness and I mean it as no insult ,just the fact that the abuse they suffered as children and girls growing up ,sexual ,emotional and physical abuse has distorted their view of the World .That's were the Irrational ,man Hatred of the Feminist lesbian movement comes from . Borderline Personality Disorder as a political movement ? Here from the DSM. Adverse childhood experiences[edit] There is a strong correlation between child abuse, especially child sexual abuse, and development of BPD.[71][86][87][88][89] Many individuals with BPD report a history of abuse and neglect as young children.[90] Patients with BPD have been found to be significantly more likely to report having been verbally, emotionally, physically or sexually abused by caregivers of either gender. They also report a high incidence of incest and loss of caregivers in early childhood.[91] Individuals with BPD were also likely to report having caregivers of both sexes deny the validity of their thoughts and feelings. Caregivers were also reported to have failed to provide needed protection and to have neglected their child's physical care. Parents of both sexes were typically reported to have withdrawn from the child emotionally, and to have treated the child inconsistently.[91] Additionally, women with BPD who reported a previous history of neglect by a female caregiver and abuse by a male caregiver were significantly more likely to report experiencing sexual abuse by a non-caregiver.[91] It has been suggested that children who experience chronic early maltreatment and attachment difficulties may go on to develop borderline personality disorder.[92] However, none of these studies provide evidence that childhood trauma necessarily causes or contributes to causing BPD. Rather, both the trauma and the BPD could be caused by a third factor. For example, it could be that many caregivers who tend to expose children to traumatic experiences do so partly because of their own heritable personality disorders, the genetic predisposition for which they may pass on to their children, who develop BPD as a result of that predisposition and other factors, and not as a result of prior mistreatment.[93] Gender[edit] Feminists question why women are three times more likely to be diagnosed with BPD than men, while other stigmatizing diagnoses, such as antisocial personality disorder, are diagnosed three times as often in men.[144][145][146] One explanation is that some of the diagnostic criteria of BPD uphold stereotypes about women. For example, the criteria of "a pattern of unstable personal relationships, unstable self-image, and instability of mood," can all be linked to the stereotype that women are "neither decisive nor constant".[147] Women may be more likely to receive a personality disorder diagnosis if they reject the traditional female role by being assertive, successful, or sexually active.[148] If a woman presents with psychiatric symptoms but does not conform to a traditional, passive sick role, she may be labelled as a "difficult" patient and given a BPD diagnosis.[148] Since BPD is a stigmatizing diagnosis even within the mental health community (see Stigma), some survivors of childhood sexual abuse who are diagnosed with BPD are thus re-traumatized by the negative responses they receive from healthcare providers.[149] One camp argues that it would be better to diagnose these women with post-traumatic stress disorder, as this would acknowledge the impact of abuse on their behavior. Critics of the PTSD diagnosis argue that it medicalizes abuse rather than addressing the root causes in society.[150] Regardless, a diagnosis of PTSD does not encompass all aspects of the disorder (see Brain abnormalities and Terminology).
