Chapters
Psychological factors
The Hidden Cause of Homosexuality · Dr. Alaa Alsalem
4. The Internal (Psychological) Cause of Homosexuality
As I previously stated, homosexuality was regarded as a psychological illness in which the afflicted needed a cure. Scientific circles held this official position from the last century until the seventies. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) removed it from the list of illnesses and psychological issues in response to pressure from groups, not because they were paying attention to satisfactory scientific medical facts or evidence.
In reality, the decision to remove its classification did not happen in one attempt. In 1973, the term "homosexual" was removed from the 3rd edition of the DSM55 and replaced with "sexual orientation disturbance." They put homosexuality in parentheses, thus no longer regarding it as a deviation from heterosexuality. Thus both are now considered as natural states. The altered text was appended with the following statement: "No doubt, homosexual activists will claim that psychiatry has at last recognized that homosexuality is as ‘normal’ as heterosexuality. They will be wrong.”56
Note, even though homosexuality disappeared as a mental illness from the DSM, it was still mentioned. It was not until 1987 that homosexuality completely disappeared from it after they replaced “sexual orientation disturbance” with “ego-dystonic sexual orientation,” opening the door for the entrance of new terminologies such as “transsexualism.”
The consensual decision to remove it was not a scientific consensus at the time. Hence, the World Health Organization (WHO) needed to wait 17 years until 1990 to finally agree to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.57
Paving the way for homosexuality's acceptance as a natural sexual choice started much earlier than 1990. Sigmund Freud (1865-1939), the pioneering Austrian psychoanalyst, regarded homosexuality in
some of his literature as a mental disease, then changed his opinion in other places to a difference in one's sexual function.
In June 2018, French Doctor Jean Yves Henry tweeted that homosexuality is a "special symptom" curable through homeopathic treatment. Despite Dr. Yves using the term "symptom" and avoiding "illness" or "disorder," as soon as he posted his opinion, he faced an uproar from the medical associations (in France and the rest of the development world) aiming their attacks at him. The discussion ended with lawsuits filed against him in his own country, Switzerland.
I mention this story not because it occurred recently (less than a year ago) but because it signifies that "homosexuality" is no longer a scientific topic; meticulously planned political motives are also at work under the pretext of human rights.
The decision to remove homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses may be for (according to some) scientific and medical reasons. However, scientists and specialists in medicine could not identify its organic cause and therefore diagnose an effective and efficient cure before making their decision. Their inability to find the cure without knowing the cause doesn't mean that homosexuality is not an illness or a psychiatric or behavioral disorder. In the case of "psychopathy," despite not being able to determine an appropriate treatment for it, it remained on the list of incurable mental disorders and illnesses.
On the one hand, we can say that not finding a treatment for homosexuality reveals their incapacity to diagnose its organic cause. On the other hand, it opens the door for ethical and religious organizations to take responsibility for treating such abnormalities that medicine failed to treat. I don't mean the general religion associated with religious organizations. I'm referring to true religion with a vicegerent of God who can determine the right cause and treatment for this and other controversial issues.
As for us, it is evident and unequivocal that homosexuality is an abnormality, a mental disorder, and an illness. The expected selfish gene survives in human beings because of the survival of offspring to pass genes from generation to generation through a male-female relationship. Any other contact (for example, homosexual contact) will be incompatible with the natural orientation that genes seek. Such a practice would reveal their abnormal behavior and deviation from nature, indicating an imbalance and disorder. This disorder requires treatment that depends primarily on the affected person himself. We will clarify in depth later.
Thus, we know that the internal (psychological) cause is important and has a critical role in the direction of homosexuals towards homosexuality. No matter what, it is an impermissible excuse for individuals to direct themselves towards it because it remains a personal choice-not an inevitable outcome-and treatment (as I previously said) depends on the individual themselves. Hence, in no way can they be absolved of their responsibility nor any consequences resulting from them deciding to direct their sexual orientation toward this deviation.
As for the exact cause (that researchers have failed to decipher in psychoanalysis, genetics, neurology sciences, and others), we will come to it in point 6 of this research when we look at what Sayyed Ahmed Alhasan says.