Could it be that: 1) The diagnoses that label trans people as mentally ill are based largely upon the opinion of a handful of psychiatrists imposing their view of what is socially acceptable behavior? 2) These psychiatrists base their opinion almost entirely on studies of their own patients without considering the large number of transgender people leading well-adjusted lives who don't feel the need to see a psychiatrist? 3) These psychiatrists are suspiciously relentless in challenging the credibility of anyone who seeks to challenge their opinion? 4) Their opinion ignores significant studies by other professionals showing that most individuals who transition genders have positive outcomes? 5) The diagnoses are written in a way that removes the mental illness label for a patient who undergoes reparative therapy (which claims to make an individual not trans) but not for a patient who transitions genders, even if the outcome is positive. And 6) Some of these same psychiatrists happen to specialize in reparative therapy and therefore have a vested interest in labeling trans people as mentally ill?
You'll be hard-pressed to see these statements as anything but true after reading Winters' painstakingly researched book. Winters documents how the DSM-IV diagnoses of the American Psychiatric Association came to be and why reform is needed. She carefully shows that the diagnoses are based more upon difference from societal norms than distress or impairment caused by gender dysphoria, thereby labeling all gender non-conforming individuals as mentally ill - even those not experiencing distress.
Winters demonstrates how this "official" word of the APA is then used to justify job terminations, lack of insurance coverage and other types of discrimination. Even the HRC Corporate Equality Index, which aims in part to end transgender discrimination in the workplace, inadvertently causes it according to Winters. The CEI allows a corporation to score 100% by offering mental health counseling as its only transgender health benefit, and corporations overwhelmingly chose this benefit over four others, Winters asserts, because the DSM-IV recommends reparative therapy for those who seek counseling.
Gender Madness is a must-read for those concerned that some of the psychiatrists who helped develop the DSM-IV diagnoses, and who have a vested interest in maintaining them, have lead roles in the development of the DSM-V to be released in 2012.
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Top reviews from other countries
- Jessica BourgeoisReviewed in Canada on January 27, 2020
Dr. Winters is a true professional
- Dr. Z. DavyReviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2013
DSM as a controlling force
