Talk:Homosexual panic

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Okay . . . would someone like to add the DSM-IV reference for this maladity? Otherwise, I have a hard time not suspecting someone is pulling my leg. -- llywrch 01:03, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it's being used as a defense for assaults against homosexuals. This article makes it sound as if it's non-controversial, which it most assuredly isn't. There are lots of Google hits for "homosexual panic defense" and "gay panic defense". RickK 01:07, Sep 20, 2004 (UTC)

Homosexual panic is a valid psychiatric condition with a long history. Like many other uncommon disorders it doesn't crack a mention in the index of DSM-IV nor to my recollection in the text. But then it shares that fate with many others. Try looking up Capgras delusion or Koro for instance. I don't think the existence of the disorder is controversial but its use as a legal defence may well be. Why not have a look at some of those web articles and extract some kernels from them. --CloudSurfer 09:51, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Can you give any references to primary sources about "homosexual panic" being a valid psychiatric disorder, CloudSurfer? I have consulted three textbooks and a full-text database about abnormal psychology: none of them mentions this disorder. I also think some of the statements in this article sound suspicious, especially The condition most often occurs in people who suffer schizoid personality disorders (people with SPD normally experience flattened emotion) and caregivers often are selected from members of the opposite sex, and invasive proceedures such as injections with needles or suppositories are contraindicated (this sounds like a joke). I think that the article at least needs to mention primary sources for such claims and for the assertion that it is a 'valid' disorder. Hence the accuracy-tag -- Sietse 20:35, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The article would actually appear to be a paraphrasing of the entry in "Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry" ed. Kaplan, Freedman and Saddock. I have the third edition (1980). The article on page 2101 (Vol 2) starts:

"This is a term applied to an adjustment disorder of adult life characterized by delusions and hallucinations that accuse the apatient, in derisive and contemptuous terms, of a variety of homosexual practices. The panic typically occurs in patients with schizoid personality disorders who have successfully protected themselves in the past from physical intimacy. Breakdown occurs in a setting of enforced intimacy, such as a college dormitory or a military barracks. There may be a history of alcohol or drug use preceding the acute episode."

It then goes on to discuss treatment. Mentioning suicide and homicide but not suggesting they are common, just possible. Compare that with the article. This condition certainly happened in WW2 but I must say I have not even heard of it happening in Australia since then. I have heard of it used as a defence in the US. I think the article is fine as is and the dispute should be removed. The exaggeration of the homicide suicide stuff should be changed and I will do both and categorise it under Psychosis, it really is a brief reactive psychosis. It badly needs to be brought into the current millenium with some recent references. For all we know it may have suffered the same fate as the hysteria epidemic around the turn of the 20th century. --CloudSurfer 19:24, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Sorry Sietse, I didn't notice another part of your comment. The article goes on to say:

"With male patients, female staff members, preferably those cast in a matronly model, should be used as therapeutic allies. ... The use of needles, suppositories, and unnecessary physical contact are best avoided."

Truth is stranger than fiction! There are obvious Freudian aspects to this. Remember that this condition was big in the 1940s. --CloudSurfer 19:28, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

OK, I have now gone through and put in a number of references. Most of them from my skim readings seem to accept the concept of the disorder, although there is some disputation. I don't have access to the Can J Psych article so someone might like to look that up as it was the only non legal academic article I found. Most of the legal articles perceive the defence use as inappropriate and often based on a condition that does not fulfill the criteria for the diagnosis of homosexual panic. I don't have the energy to go further into this but please do. --CloudSurfer 20:49, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Thank you for your clear reply and improvements of the article, CloudSurfer. Maybe I was a bit too skeptical, but I think that it is important to provide references or motivations for the kind of assertions in this article (i.e. claims that are not common knowledge of people who are familiar with the general topic). The article looks fine and NPOV to me after your improvements. Sietse 14:34, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] References

I have moved the references to the legal defense to Gay panic defense. They made up four of six references and are simply secondary sources all referring to each other when it comes to the psychiatric basis. More references to the psychiatric term would be in order, please. --TreyHarris 18:21, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Queer Theory

Theorist Luce Irigary has used the term "male homosexual panic" to describe a situation where heterosexual men who may have some suppressed desire for other men completely obliterate all desire and sexuality (even for women) so as to not encounter their homosexual desire. She uses Henry Jame's novella "The Beast in the Jungle" as a point of entry. Her essay is called "The Beast in the Closet".