Is being a gay a mental illness or physical illness?
First, I like to say “thank you” to ADIOS2nd for a comment that he rose up a good point. He said that “ agree that homosexual is not wrong but I think it really is an illness”. In order to answer this question, I have studied in more details about this issue that I found out being gay is neither a mental nor physical illness.
According to my researches, I found out that they have so many theories that study about being gay. In chromosome linkage studies, this study focuses on X chromosome. In 1993, a sample of 76 gay brothers and their family undertake the study by using twenty-two markers on the X chromosome to test for similar alleles. In another finding, thirty-three of the forty sibling pairs tested were found to have similar alleles in the distal region of Xq28, which was significantly higher than the expected rates of 50% for fraternal brothers.
New study in 2005, researchers found out some more similar areas in X chromosome such as 7q36, p12 and 10q26 that showed highly significant maternal loading. The areas on chromosome control action in human; therefore, being gay is just a reaction from code on chromosome.
In brain structure study that focuses on brain organ call “hypothalamus” which divides to be 4 major parts INAH1, INAH2, INAH3, and INAH4. In brain study, they found out that in this part of the brain played a role in the regulation of sexual behavior in animal. Previously, INAH2 and INAH3 have been reported to differ size between men and women. They have no difference in INAH1, INAH2, and INAH4 in the subjects group. However, the INAH3 group appeared to be twice as big in the heterosexual male group as in the gay male group. The size of INAH3 in homosexual male brains was similar to that in heterosexual female brain. This means in homosexual male their INAH3 play the role of regular sex that tends toward to female. In contrast, homosexual female they have the size of INAH3 that is similar to heterosexual male; therefore, the behaviors of them would tend toward to male.
In short, being gay is neither mental illness nor physical illness. It is just the action of factors that control human being. Therefore, gay people they are just normal person just like straight people. They just want to be a part of society and have rights equally with others.
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Aim,
ReplyDeleteThank you for scientific truth. I've already read that 1993 result many times, a 2005 is new for me.
But if being a gay is drive by, in my understanding, the deviation of some chromosomes, why is it not an illness?
Down's syndrome, Edward's syndrome, Patau syndrome, Thalassemia, Hemophilia, and color blindness are all illness and it occur by the chromosome deviation too.
How do you think the questions here relate to the ideas in "Culture and Mental Illness" that we read in Quest last week and will finish checking on Monday morning?
ReplyDeleteIn particular, can we add another row to the chart on p. 170?
And possibly for something later in the term, it suggests a good topic for an essay. I'll bear it in mind. Why aren't Aim's researched facts enough to settle the question?
And since Hartmann has already cited the DSM-IV (2007, p. 169), it might be illuminating to look at the history of the treatment of homosexuality in that series of influential publications from the American Psychiatric Association.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Hartmann, P. (2007). Quest 2 Reading and Writing, (2nd. ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Aim, can i ask you that how Thai people think about a gay? Actually i found that i can see many people(specailly in BKK) who acts a opposite way of gender. i mean from public eyes.
ReplyDeleteAnd someone from Europe did tell me that the lack of education is made that thing.
But i don't agree the both. i think it's not a illness. it's a just choice the way want to live