Caring Best Friend Roleplay

From YouTube's Whisper Mister, here's an oddly fascinating bit of talk therapy meant to induce something called the autonomous sensory meridian response, which Wikipedia calls "a perceptual phenomenon characterized as a distinct, pleasurable tingling sensation in the head, scalp, back, or peripheral regions of the body in response to visual, auditory, olfactory, and/or cognitive stimuli."  You'll have to turn it up because....he's the Whisper Mister.

(Tipped by JMG reader Bill)

Dr. Joyce Brothers Dies At Age 85

Television psychologist and frequent chat show guest Dr. Joyce Brothers died at her New Jersey home yesterday at the age of 85.

Throughout the 1960s, and long beyond, one could scarcely turn on the television or open a newspaper without encountering her. She was the host of her own nationally syndicated TV shows, starting in the late 1950s with “The Dr. Joyce Brothers Show” and over the years including “Ask Dr. Brothers,” “Consult Dr. Brothers” and “Living Easy With Dr. Joyce Brothers.” She was also a ubiquitous guest on talk shows like “The Tonight Show” and on variety shows like “The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”

Click over to Boy Culture for some examples of Brothers' commentaries on gay issues. Most are pretty good. But not all.

Christian TV On "Ex-Gay" Therapy

UK Gov't: "Ex-Gay" Therapy Is Harmful

The British government has issued a statement declaring that "ex-gay" therapy is harmful and should not be allowed. Pink News reports:

Culture Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Maria Miller has responded to a parliamentary question on gay conversion therapy by instructing Health Minister Norman Lamb to outline the government’s official position.  It was after Diane Johnson, the Labour MP for Kingston upon Hull North, asked Mrs Miller for her views on the subject in reference to counsellors and psychotherapists who have sought to provide the discredited medical practice. In response, the Lib Dem Health Minister Norman Lamb said: “The Department of Health does not condone the concept of therapists offering ‘cures’ for homosexuality. There is no evidence that this sort of treatment is beneficial and indeed it may well cause significant harm, to some patients."

The Health Minister went on to say that the National Health Service should work to ensure that all mental health care is provided without discrimination on the basis of sexuality.

UK Psychology Group Tells Members That "Ex-Gay" Therapy Is Forbidden

Britain's largest psychotherapy group has told its members that "ex-gay" or "reparative therapy" is now officially forbidden. Via James Watkins at Law On The Web:

The British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) wrote to its near 30,000 members to inform them that so-called gay conversion therapy was now officially off-limits to them, after discovering that some members were still offering the controversial ‘treatments’. Lesley Pilkington was one such member. Last year, the BACP found her guilty of malpractice after being exposed by an undercover journalist to be offering “gay cure” therapies. Mrs Pilkington told the journalist that homosexuality is a mental illness akin to depression, with addictive qualities akin to alcoholism. Mrs Pilkington was struck off, and her appeal was rejected in May of this year.  The letter from the BACP states that “BACP opposes any psychological treatment such as ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapy which is based upon the assumption that homosexuality is a mental disorder, or based on the premise that the client/patient should change his/her sexuality.” In the letter, the BACP adds that they recognise that “the diversity of human sexualities is compatible with normal mental health and social adjustment”.

Note that the British group makes no distinction regarding children or adults.

CA Gov. Jerry Brown Signs Bill Banning "Ex-Gay" Therapy For Minors

Last night California Gov. Jerry Brown finally signed the bill that bans "ex-gay therapy" for children under the age of 18.

The bill, SB1172 by Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), bars mental health practitioners from performing so-called reparative therapy, which professional psychological organizations have said may cause harm. Gay rights groups have labeled them dangerous and abusive. "This bill bans non-scientific 'therapies' that have driven young people to depression and suicide. These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery," Brown said in a statement to The Chronicle.Brown approved the ban after the public release of two other lists of bills signed and vetoed earlier Saturday. Lieu's bill is expected to appear on a new list to be released Sunday.

REACTIONS

National Center for Lesbian Rights: "Governor Brown has sent a powerful message of affirmation and support to LGBT youth and their families. This law will ensure that state-licensed therapists can no longer abuse their power to harm LGBT youth and propagate the dangerous and deadly lie that sexual orientation is an illness or disorder that can be 'cured.'"

Equality California: "Governor Brown today reaffirmed what medical and mental health organizations have made clear: Efforts to change minors' sexual orientation are not therapy, they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inflicted untold harm on young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Californians. We thank Senator Ted Lieu and Governor Brown for their efforts in making California a leader in banning this deceptive and harmful practice."

Truth Wins Out: "This is a historic day that protects LGBT youth from child abuse disguised as genuine therapy. We thank Gov. Brown for signing legislation that can serve as a model for similar bills across the nation.”

Human Rights Campaign: "We're grateful to Governor Brown for standing with California's children. LGBT youth will now be protected from a practice that has not only been debunked as junk science, but has been proven to have drastically negative effects on their well-being. We commend Governor Brown for putting children first, and call on all states to take California’s lead on this issue. We will continue our fight against this kind of child abuse, which has been deemed harmful to children by all major mental health, medical, and child welfare organizations."

Courage Campaign: "Governor Brown has shown courage for enacting the first law in the nation to ban 'conversion therapy' for gay people. The Governor's action will protect thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth of California. This law will save lives here and across the nation by ending the torture of young people through the quackery that suggests that gay people can decide somehow not to be gay, which is akin to white people deciding not to be white. Once again, California is a model for the nation."

Trans Activists Seek New Terms

Some transgender advocates are seeking to have the psychological establishment change its terminology as the profession overhauls its main diagnosis manual for the first time in almost 20 years.

Advocates have spent years lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to rewrite or even remove the categories typically used to diagnose transgender people, arguing that terms like Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestic Fetishism promote discrimination by broad-brushing a diverse population with the stigma of mental illness. "The label of mental defectiveness really places a burden on trans people to continually prove our competence in our affirmed roles," Kelley Winters, a Colorado scholar who has helped lead the push for changes, said.

Although the association's new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is not scheduled to be printed until the end of the year, the updates are taking shape after three rounds of proposed changes. Professionals who have been part of or closely observing the amendment process say the latest wording, while not going as far as many advocates wanted, respects the broader shift in society's understanding and acceptance of what it means to be transgender since the last major revision of the manual was published in 1994.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jack)

APA Endorses Gay Marriage

The largest association of psychologists in the world has issued an endorsement of same-sex marriage.

The policymaking body of the American Psychological Association (APA) unanimously approved the resolution 157-0 on the eve of the group's annual convention, which opens here today. The group, with more than 154,000 members, has long supported full equal rights for gays, based on social science research on sexual orientation. Now the nation's psychologists — citing an increasing body of research about same-sex marriage, as well as increased discussion at the state and federal levels — took the support to a new level. "Now as the country has really begun to have experience with gay marriage, our position is much clearer and more straightforward — that marriage equity is the policy that the country should be moving toward," says Clinton Anderson, director of APA's Office on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns.

Study Finds Brain Link To Spirituality

A fascinating study of brain cancer patients concludes that damage to a specific portion of the brain leads to an increased desire for "self-transcendence" or spirituality. Researchers think they may have pinpointed the specific location in the brain that controls attitudes about religion.

The study, published in the Feb. 11 issue of the journal Neuron, involves a personality trait called self-transcendence, which is a somewhat vague measure of spiritual feeling, thinking, and behaviors. Self-transcendence "reflects a decreased sense of self and an ability to identify one's self as an integral part of the universe as a whole," the researchers explain. Before and after surgery, the scientists surveyed patients who had brain tumors removed. The surveys generate self-transcendence scores. Selective damage to the left and right posterior parietal regions of the brain induced a specific increase in self-transcendence, or ST, the surveys showed. "Our symptom-lesion mapping study is the first demonstration of a causative link between brain functioning and ST," said Dr. Cosimo Urgesi from the University of Udine in Italy. "Damage to posterior parietal areas induced unusually fast changes of a stable personality dimension related to transcendental self-referential awareness. Thus, dysfunctional parietal neural activity may underpin altered spiritual and religious attitudes and behaviors."

The researchers make no claim that religious fervor is indicative of brain damage, only that a specific part of the brain seems to control one's attitudes about spirituality in general. The finding may help develop new strategies for the treatment of personality disorders.

APA: Ex-Gay Therapy Doesn't Work

Citing 83 studies performed since 1960, yesterday the American Psychological Association declared that "reparative therapy" for homosexuals does not work and should not be attempted. But you knew that.

In a resolution adopted by the APA's governing council, and in an accompanying report, the association issued its most comprehensive repudiation of "reparative therapy" — a concept espoused by a small but persistent group of therapists, often allied with religious conservatives, who maintain gays can change. No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the resolution, adopted by a 125-4 vote. The APA said some research suggests that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies. Instead of seeking such change, the APA urged therapists to consider multiple options — that could range from celibacy to switching churches — for helping clients live spiritually rewarding lives in instances where their sexual orientation and religious faith conflict. The APA had criticized reparative therapy in the past, but a six-member task force added weight to this position by examining 83 studies on sexual orientation change conducted since 1960. Its report was endorsed by the APA's governing council in Toronto, where the 150,000-member association's annual meeting is being held this weekend. The report breaks new ground in its detailed and nuanced assessment of how therapists should deal with gay clients struggling to remain loyal to a religious faith that disapproves of homosexuality.

The APA's press release is here.

Wayne Besen: “Ex-Gay therapy is a profound travesty that has led to pointless tragedies and we are pleased that the APA has addressed this psychological scourge. It is our hope that persistent violators of the principles enumerated by the APA will be held accountable for their unethical actions.”

Unshocking: NYC Is Most Neurotic

The Map Scroll has overlaid some study of personality traits on a map of North America. Result: NYC really is a town of Woody Allens. Other personality maps here. Atlanta seems to be very agreeable, which seems about right.(Via - Richard Florida)

Hotter = Safer?

A study from the University of Toronto concludes that gay men considered sexually undesirable tend to have riskier sex.

Gay men who are not considered sexually desirable are more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour, according to new research out of the University of Toronto. They may also develop psychological problems as a consequence of feeling undesirable.

Professor Adam Isaiah Green of sociology interviewed dozens of gay men in Toronto to determine what qualities made some men more sexually desirable than others and what the consequences of being undesirable might be on mental and physical health.

"I found that young, white, middle-class men are considered much more sexually desirable than men who are racial minorities, over 40 and poor," Green said. "I also learned that for gay men, being considered sexually undesirable can have serious health consequences ranging from psychological issues to risky sexual behaviour."

The study - among the first to examine the link between sex and mental health - found that undesirable gay men face stigmatization, avoidance and outright rejection, which can lead to depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse. It also highlighted cases whereby undesirable gay men will forego safe-sex discussion and, in some cases, condom use, in the context of sex with a more attractive partner.

"We tend to devalue sexual life as something that is extracurricular and frivolous but this research shows a significant link between sexual desirability and health," Green said. "Men with low levels of 'erotic capital' are systematically marginalized, which can take a real toll both physically and psychologically." The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior .

I suppose this makes sense, even if it's a bit startling. People with low self-esteem do dumb things all the time.

(Via - Good As You)