njlauren
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I also am very, very leery when I read something like the article in question, among other things, I know of that therapist and her practice, and I have to tell you, if someone asked me to refer them to a therapy group, I wouldn't send them there (that group handles trans folks, I have met some of the people who use them, and all I have to say is I really wonder what planet they are on...). When I read things like "Psychologists are no different then the Catholic Church" or read things like 'aversion or shock therapy is considered legitimate treatment for fetishistic transvestites' I shudder, because among other things, it is a bald faced lie. Yeah, I am sure there are therapists out there who claim being a crossdresser or a sub or whatever is mental illness, there are supposedly licensed therapists out there who claim that 'reversion' therapy will cure homosexuality, but they are a fringe minority.
Like doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists are influenced by social norms, by biases, there is no doubt (for example, in things like weight, diet and health, most doctors are woefully ignorant) and they have done stupid things. 30 years ago, if you were a M to F transgender person, you basically had to claim you sexually were into men and have the ultimate goal of transition as finding some guy and getting married; if you were married, even if you wanted to stay with your wife, they forced you to get divorced, if you told them you liked women, they would tell you to take a hike, because if you liked women, stay a man *sigh*....so yes, they have caused pain, and a lot of it does come down to the biases and stupidity that are part of society, especially organized religion, that promoted the beliefs of bronze age nomads not far removed from Al Qaeda of today as 'truth speakers'....Like any human profession, there are people with biases, there are people with agendas, all kinds of wacked out that happen, and yes, therapy often is more of an art then science, but that doesn't negate its value.
The thing is, though, that unlike let's say the Catholic Church, that is locked into ancient foolishness, psychology and psychiatry have change mechanisms. The DSM changes, it removed homosexuality 40 years ago thanks to the work of psychologists and psychiatrists, based on the research and knowledge they had, forced change. More and more the DSM is taking the attitude that as long as something doesn't interfere with life, if it isn't stopping normal functioning or leading someone to suicide or self med'ing (drug addiction), it is not a problem. BD/SM, crossdressing, masturbation, all of them today, even in the DSM as afar as I know, are not treated as mental illness (I read the DSM years ago, on BD/SM and so forth, and Nichols, the author, is full of shit from what I recall, and it said as long as it is consensual and as long as it doesn't interfere with normal life, it is fine). And no, because a wife isn't into BD/SM and wants a divorce, in the eyes of the DSM that doesn't make the husband mentally ill, that isn't what they mean; what they mean is if someone is so into BD/SM that they cannot function, like holding a job, having normal social relationships, existing in the real world, that then they may be ill; but the same thing is true of anything else, someone obsessed about a movie, about a hobby, about a car, about anything is mentally ill.
BTW the DSM is sort of a bible for psych types, but it isn't the be all and end all. As crappy as it sounds, its primary function is not so much about treating patients, which most therapists do individually and based on their own experience, it primarily is used to get re-imbursement from insurance companies and also to CYA if professional boards or others come snooping around, it is a bureaucratic tool as much as a therapeutic one.
I think Sadism is only a mental illness when you are talking true sadism, when someone gets off on truly making someone or something suffer, with absolutely no thought of the person they are doing it to. I agree with another poster, it may not just be the creep who kidnaps people and tortures them; a sadistic top in a scene who totally blows by safewords, who ignores stated limits repeatedly, who has been shown to be an 'unsafe top' is also mentally ill IMO, because they are totally not acknowledging the damage they are doing. I have seen TPE relationships where the sub/slave agrees that anything the D/M does is okay, that they don't have the right to refuse, and if the D/M wants to cause them physical harm, like breaking bones or worse, that is their right, and in that case, I think both of them are mentally ill, that that is taking total control way over the line (to me, self preservation is the first rule of sanity, as is respecting the right of other's self preservation) and there is no justification there. But those are extremes, but within the BD/SM realm, if the people are hurting themselves or others, they can function (and when I say hurt, I mean real harm) and are otherwise living their lives, it most definitely is not, and I believe the DSM IV says pretty much the same thing.
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RE: Is Sadism a mental illness? - 
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but there are many, many instances, where this would not be consensual. 
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