Anti-Love or Anti-“Lifestyle”: Historical Reflections on Reparative Therapies for Homosexuality

No abstract

Pharmaceuticals or other emerging technologies could be used to enhance (or diminish) feelings of lust, attraction, and attachment in adult romantic partnerships. Although such interventions could conceivably be used to promote individual (and couple) well-being, their widespread development and/or adoption might lead to the 'medicalization' of human love and heartache-for some, a source of a serious concern. In this essay, we argue that the medicalization of love need not necessarily be problematic, on balance, but could plausibly be expected to have either good or bad consequences depending upon how it unfolds. By anticipating some of the specifi c ways in which these technologies could yield unwanted outcomes, bioethicists and others can help to direct the course of love's medicalization-should it happen to occur-more toward the 'good' side than the 'bad.'

This manuscript provides a critical historic analysis of the status of sexual orientation nondiscrimination within the context of the mental health profession. the declassification and reclassification of homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is addressed. While the DSM reclassifications represent a slow shift toward the acceptance of homosexuality within the fields of psychiatry and psychology, the APA of the present represents a radical shift from the past.