Article Summary
Sexual orientation questions always cause many debates and controversies in different fields, including psychiatry. Homosexuality was considered “improper” orientation and was labeled as a mental illness in the U.S. until 1973 and worldwide until 1992 (Moleiro, C. & Pinto, N., 2015). Discrimination against homosexual people was widespread in the past and still occurs today. LGBT people, due to stress connected with discrimination, suffer from mental issues and the inability to live a full and healthy life in society. In addition, they are limited in rights in many areas, such as being unable to form a family. “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people often suffer from various forms of discrimination, stigma and social exclusion – including physical and psychological abuse, bullying, persecution, or economic alienation” (Moleiro, C. & Pinto, N., 2015, p. 2). All those issues lead to they actually having mental problems, not because of their orientation, but due to the stress connected with it. Thus, gender studies are essential to understand how all those biases can be corrected.
Thus, LGBT people often need psychological and psychiatric help; more often than heterosexual people. “Several studies strongly suggest that experiences of discrimination and stigmatization place LGBT people at higher risk for mental distress. For example, LGB populations may be at increased risk for suicide (Moleiro, C. & Pinto, N., 2015, p. 2). During psychotherapy, they often meet an inappropriate attitude and cannot solve their problems; despite doctors are not trying to “re-educate” them now, they cannot understand their problems. According to Moleiro, C. & Pinto, N., “even those clinicians who intend to be affirmative and supportive of LGBT individuals can reveal subtle heterosexist bias in work with these clients” (2015, p. 4). In that way, gender studies are important to reveal how those problems, such as the discrimination and misperception of sexuality can be solved.
Relevance
The importance of the gender-related concepts follows from their applications: they provide a better understanding of LGBT people. Many misconceptions about them result in public discrimination: people do not understand them and, thus, tend to hate them (Moleiro C., & Pinto, N., 2015). They also have problems perceiving their own sexuality; this is especially true for trans people whose actual gender is distinct from their biological gender. As a result, LGBT people suffer a lot and tend to be unhappy. Studying all those issues can help to prevent those problems; results of these studies can help people better understand their sexuality, as well as sexuality of other people, reducing discrimination and tensions in society.
As LGBT people tend to have mental problems due to gender dysphoria and still occurring rejection by society, they require qualifying psychotherapy. Psychotherapists often cannot understand their needs, and even if they are positive toward any sexual orientation, they can offend their LGBT clients accidentally. The diagnosis of gender dysphoria is highly controversial by itself because it can lead to further discrimination. While it “is a clinical term used to describe the symptoms of excessive pain, agitation, restless, and malaise that gender-variant people seeking therapy often express,” there are voices about total excluding it from the psychiatry (Moleiro C., & Pinto, N., 2015, p. 3). It means that further researches are necessary to better understand how to teach health care professionals to meet the needs of their LGBT clients.
As LGBT people have a higher risk of suicide and mental problems than other groups of people, they are less satisfied by their life and work and, in that way, drop out of social life. The actuality of gender studies and the article of Moleiro C., & Pinto, N. follows from the fact that, when there are suffering parts of society, it weakens. Instead of enriching society with their work and happy lives, they increase tensions and make unrest. It is not their fault, but the fault of society which considers them wrong and allows their discrimination. Gender studies investigate those processes and can help LGBT people to cope with those issues.
The main reason why people with sexual orientation, other than heterosexual, should be studied is their human rights. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people are people too, and all human rights, such as the right to a happy life and the right to marriage, should apply to them. Suicide rates are exceptionally high among trans-people: according to the studies, almost half of them either have tried suicide or want to try it (Moleiro C., & Pinto, N., 2015). Researches of gender-related concepts influence society, which tends to believe to objective scientific researches. For example, excluding homosexuality from the list of mental diseases led to lowering the discrimination (Moleiro C., & Pinto, N., 2015). If these researches can reduce suffering among people, it is enough reason to prove that they are actual.
Theory Application
Functionalism is the social theory that considers society as the sizable complex mechanism with various parts and systems: norms, traditions, social institutions, classes. Those elements are interconnected and function together: if there are any problems in society, it is due to improper connections between the elements or if the element itself is unfit. For example, the norm of society can be outdated or even harmful and, in that way, cause conflicts, tensions, and suffering among people. It is crucial for maintaining the life of the societal mechanism to ensure that its elements work in accordance with each other, making no harm.
When considering LGBT people, who are elements of society, norms that discriminate against them are actually harmful. Medical organizations worldwide considered homosexuality a mental illness for most of the twentieth century, which is an excellent example of such a norm (Moleiro, C., & Pinto, N., 2015). A homosexual person could be initially healthy, but the medicine considered them all as ill by default, weakening its own, potentially useful element. According to Moleiro, C., & Pinto, “research clearly recognizes the role of stigma and discrimination as significant intervening variables in psychopathology among LGBT populations” (2015, p. 2). In that way, society makes ill its own parts, which become unable to work for its enrichment. By increasing the suffering of some part of the population, society, actually destroys itself.
Thus, when the element, such as norm or law, creates more tension than prevents it, this element should be removed from the system. Norms of society can be repressing: the system should be able to remove elements that are harmful by themselves. Examples of those elements are thieves or other criminals, corrupted politicians or business people, those who cause direct harm to society as a whole or its separate elements. However, when the norms are repressing those considered “alien” but who are not harmful, such as LGBT people, these norms become harmful elements themselves. Such norms should be removed from the societal mechanism and not prevent it from developing.
Reference
Moleiro, C., & Pinto, N. (2015). Sexual orientation and gender identity: review of concepts, controversies and their relation to psychopathology classification systems. Frontiers in Psychology, 6.