Many conservative Christians believe that reparative therapy, also called conversion therapy, is the key to "curing" lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of their sexual orientations and/or gender identities. These therapies (which consist of a variety of methods) are aimed at making the LGBT patient heterosexual and/or cisgender. Recently, reparative therapies have come under fire as both ineffective and abusive, and several states (including California) have banned the practices.
Debate question: Does reparative therapy work? Is it effective?
Notes: This thread is *NOT* to debate the morality of reparative therapy or homosexuality / bisexuality / being transgender. It is ONLY to discuss the effectiveness of reparative therapy.
Reparative therapy
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Post #2
There is no evidence it works, and there is quite a bit of evidence it is actually damaging.
People that have gone through reparative therapy are
1) have an attempted suicide rate of 8 times higher.
2) Have a sixfold increase in high levels of depression
3) Are 3 times more likely to buy illegal drugs.
4) are at least 3 times more likely to have STD's and HIV.
http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/the- ... ve-therapy
http://www.livescience.com/50453-why-ga ... rmful.html
People that have gone through reparative therapy are
1) have an attempted suicide rate of 8 times higher.
2) Have a sixfold increase in high levels of depression
3) Are 3 times more likely to buy illegal drugs.
4) are at least 3 times more likely to have STD's and HIV.
http://www.hrc.org/resources/entry/the- ... ve-therapy
http://www.livescience.com/50453-why-ga ... rmful.html
“What do you think science is? There is nothing magical about science. It is simply a systematic way for carefully and thoroughly observing nature and using consistent logic to evaluate results. So which part of that exactly do you disagree with? Do you disagree with being thorough? Using careful observation? Being systematic? Or using consistent logic?�
Steven Novella
Steven Novella
Re: Reparative therapy
Post #3When it comes to developing a treatment modality (for any condition) that is based upon rigid moral values (as seen with fundamentalist Christian beliefs), the modality will only apply to that narrow point of view. All other possible causes and correlations will be overlooked or dismissed.Haven wrote: Many conservative Christians believe that reparative therapy, also called conversion therapy, is the key to "curing" lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people of their sexual orientations and/or gender identities. These therapies (which consist of a variety of methods) are aimed at making the LGBT patient heterosexual and/or cisgender. Recently, reparative therapies have come under fire as both ineffective and abusive, and several states (including California) have banned the practices.
Debate question: Does reparative therapy work? Is it effective?
Notes: This thread is *NOT* to debate the morality of reparative therapy or homosexuality / bisexuality / being transgender. It is ONLY to discuss the effectiveness of reparative therapy.
If doctors had a similarly fixed and moralized understanding of cancer, drawn from various scriptures in the Bible, what sort of treatment modalities will they come up with? (using the disease model for purposes of comparison only).
For the sake of those narrowly defined ego-dystonic fundamentalist Christians with unwanted homosexual arousal and impulses, OK, as long as they are fully consenting adults, it's their choice to make to undergo 'treatment'. Consenting adults are free to buy into whatever appeals to them, and if negative consequences are suffered, a consenting adult is better equipped to cope with them.
But from the git-go, the consensus of psychologists and psychiatrists does not recognize same sex preference as a disease in need of treatment and correction. Left handed people are no longer considered 'wrong' either, in spite of unfavorable references to 'the left side' that occurs frequently in Bible scriptures and from many other ancient sources.
