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There is also the consideration whether the abnormality causes distress to the patient. As an example, the average gay person may not be distressed about bein

There is also the consideration whether the abnormality causes distress to the patient. As an example, the average gay person may not be distressed about being gay. However, the average trans person may feel uneasy about their physical body. This is why the DSM-V describes gender dysphoria, previously known as gender identity disorder. [1] Feelings be damned, I think that anything that causes a person to feel bad, particularly bad feelings that stem from internal causes, should be considered a disorder. This is not a bad thing, since recognizing a problem is usually the first step to fixing it. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_dysphoria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_dysphoria

staticman2 5y ago
I listened to a lecture on psychology by The Great Courses and the lecturer said historically they stopped labeling gay people as having a mental illness because the patients did not respond to treatment, so the logic at the time was not whether the patients were not suffering. The lecturer pointed out this made no sense because in other contexts doctors would not say if they can't treat it, it's not a disease. I'm guessing the patients thought they were going to hell, or thought society was going to abuse them, or they wanted to be heterosexual so they could have kids or whatever and said "please make me not gay, doc". So they were suffering. If "treating the gay" worked it might still be considered an illness today I guess. My point is only the disease labels are arbitrary. And there's a downside to labeling things, especially thing you cannot effectively treat. Also, trusting Doctors without a dose of skepticism can be a mistake.
pmoriarty 5y ago
"I think that anything that causes a person to feel bad, particularly bad feelings that stem from internal causes, should be considered a disorder" What if someone feels bad when they hurt someone else? Should that be considered a disorder? This is not just a theoretical question, as I've read that the military has been funding research in to whether drugs can be used to assuage feelings of guilt and distress some of their trained killers suffer from when they hurt/kill other people. The military wants their soldiers to be more efficient killers and pesky feelings of guilt or suffering when they hurt/kill others gets in the way of that. So should every source of negative feelings be extinguished, and should we all try to live life with a smile on our faces even when we engage in unethical or hurtful actions?

staticman2 5y ago

I listened to a lecture on psychology by The Great Courses and the lecturer said historically they stopped labeling gay people as having a mental illness because the patients did not respond to treatment, so the logic at the time was not whether the patients were not suffering. The lecturer pointed out this made no sense because in other contexts doctors would not say if they can't treat it, it's not a disease. I'm guessing the patients thought they were going to hell, or thought society was going to abuse them, or they wanted to be heterosexual so they could have kids or whatever and said "please make me not gay, doc". So they were suffering. If "treating the gay" worked it might still be considered an illness today I guess. My point is only the disease labels are arbitrary. And there's a downside to labeling things, especially thing you cannot effectively treat. Also, trusting Doctors without a dose of skepticism can be a mistake.

pmoriarty 5y ago

"I think that anything that causes a person to feel bad, particularly bad feelings that stem from internal causes, should be considered a disorder" What if someone feels bad when they hurt someone else? Should that be considered a disorder? This is not just a theoretical question, as I've read that the military has been funding research in to whether drugs can be used to assuage feelings of guilt and distress some of their trained killers suffer from when they hurt/kill other people. The military wants their soldiers to be more efficient killers and pesky feelings of guilt or suffering when they hurt/kill others gets in the way of that. So should every source of negative feelings be extinguished, and should we all try to live life with a smile on our faces even when we engage in unethical or hurtful actions?