Kinky is NOT a Diagnosis

NCSF is proud to announce that 3,241 people have signed the DSM Revision Petition from June 2008 to December 2009. The petition is now closed and has been sent to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the members of the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Work Group for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V). Thanks goes out to everyone who participated in this historic effort!

The diagnoses in the DSM-TR-IV subject people who practice BDSM, fetishes and cross-dressing to bias, discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis. NCSF often sees individuals who suffer distress and impairment in their social and occupational lives (ie. interpersonal difficulties) because their desires conflict with current societal standards. These standards stem in a large part from the DSM. itself: pathologizing unusual sexual interests has led to more discrimination and discouraged individuals from seeking treatment for physical and mental health problems. This codification of “cultural aversion” was the same reason that ego-dystonic homosexuality was included in the DSM, and then removed when it was finally recognized as such by the APA.

Some of the comments made on the petition include:

#604: “BDSM is no more an illness or dysfunction than boxing, skydiving or participating in any extreme sport.”

#1680: “I am all for removing these biases from legitimate psychiatry. It has ruined a friend of mine as for 8 years he has felt ashamed, depressed and self destructive because some “therapist” diagnosed him as sexually deviant and egodystonic and told him to repress his urges.”

#1902: “Psychiatry should serve human wellness, not police human diversity.”

#2224: “Historically, diagnoses of insanity have been used to marginalize those with unusual sexual preferences. This has to stop.”

#2566: “I just had an acquaintance lose custody of her child to her now-vengeful ex due to “kink” and a bad judge. It’s time to take more bias out of the DSM.”

“The politicization of sexuality is common in this country,” says Leigha Fleming, Board Chair of NCSF. “There is no basis in scientific fact for the categorization of BDSM and affiliated behaviors as inherently pathological or unhealthy. Social conservatives shouldn’t be allowed to carry their agenda into the DSM. It wasn’t appropriate when homosexuality was classified as a disorder by the APA and it’s not correct now for the DSM to classify consensual adult sexual expression like BDSM, cross dressing, etc. as disorder. The DSM was never meant to be a political weapon used to marginalize sexual minorities. The overwhelming response by our constituents necessitates our involvement in this critical issue.”

To see the hundreds of comments that petitioners made on the petition, click here: www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DSMrevisionpetition

To find out more about the DSM and the Paraphilias section, read the NCSF & ITCR: The Foundation for NCSF’s “White Paper on the DSM Revision” at www.ncsfreedom.org
For more information, email: susanw@ncsfreedom.org
February 2, 2010

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The APA Paraphilias Subworkgroup Agrees:
Kinky is NOT a Diagnosis

In the new proposals for the DSM-V, alternative sexual behavior has been depathologized. The American Psychiatric Association’s Paraphilias Subworkgroup’s DSM revisions acknowledge that you can be a fetishist, transvestite, sexual sadist or sexual masochist without having a mental disorder.

NCSF has worked very hard with its DSM Revision Project to make sure these changes take place, and will continue to strongly advocate for clear language of what exactly constitutes a mental disorder. Susan Wright liaisoned with the work group and supplied data that NCSF has gathered about the real-world discrimination and persecution that takes place against BDSM-fetish practitioners because of the DSM-IV-TR. The DSM Revision Petition was also extremely useful in generating comment from community members and mental health professionals urging that the current diagnoses be changed.

To see the proposed changes, go to:
http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/SexualandGenderIdentityDisorders.aspx

Read the “Rationale” section under each diagnosis to see their thinking on the paraphilias. The work group makes it clear that “non-normative” sexual behavior is practiced by healthy people:

“The first broad change follows from our consensus that paraphilias are not ipso facto psychiatric disorders. We are proposing that the DSM-V make a distinction between paraphilias and paraphilic disorders. A paraphilia by itself would not automatically justify or require psychiatric intervention. A paraphilic disorder is a paraphilia that causes distress or impairment to the individual or harm to others. One would ascertain a paraphilia (according to the nature of the urges, fantasies, or behaviors) but diagnose a paraphilic disorder (on the basis of distress and impairment). In this conception, having a paraphilia would be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for having a paraphilic disorder.”

“These revisions will affect everything-child custody, job discrimination battles, and even help change the way society views us,” says Leigha Fleming, Chairperson and Director of Incident Response. “I think of all the people over the years who have had the DSM used as a tool of discrimination and punishment, and I’m proud of NCSF for continuing the fight to change it. This is the first step towards decriminalization of BDSM, which NCSF is pursuing with our Consent Counts project.”

The Paraphilias Subworkgroup is now reconsidering what constitutes “clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” when determining a mental disorder. The DSM must make it clear that people do suffer distress and impairment because of the societal stigma against alternative sex, but that doesn’t mean they are suffering distress that is generated internally.

As part of the development process, the preliminary draft revisions to the current diagnostic criteria for psychiatric diagnoses are now available for public review and comment until April. Personal comments about discrimination and persecution are welcome additions to this commentary to continue to urge the work group to differentiate between sexual minorities and sex offenders.

Just as Norway recently joined Sweden and Denmark in removing consensual paraphilias entirely, NCSF continues to urge the complete removal of these paraphilias from the DSM. However like the incremental removal of homosexuality (to egodystonic homosexuality and then finally taken out in 1987) this is an important step for the BDSM-leather-fetish community.
NCSF needs your support to continue important projects like the DSM Revision Project that directly impact peoples’ lives. Please join NCSF to show solidarity! We do so much for very little money, and we need your help.
Please donate to NCSF now!

February 16, 2010

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National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF)

The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom is committed to creating a political, legal, and social environment in the United States that advances the equal rights of consenting adults who practice forms of alternative sexual and relationship expression. NCSF advances the rights and advocates for consenting adults in the SM-Leather-Fetish, swing, and polyamory communities. We pursue our vision through direct services, education, advocacy, and outreach in conjunction with our partner organizations to directly benefit these communities.
Office: (410) 539-4824
Media: (917) 848-6544
media@ncsfreedom.org

www.ncsfreedom.org

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