Mental Illness Caused by Bisexual Conflict!?

[glantern954]

The folowing is a press release for a book titled Schizophrenia: The Bearded Lady Disease. I have not read this book, but this press release does not sound promising.

I offer the following quote: "unconscious bisexual conflict and gender confusion are the primary causes of all mental illness."

:eek:

Title: Schizophrenia: The Bearded Lady Disease - New Book Offers Evidence that Mental Illness Caused by Bisexual Conflict and Gender Confusion
Date: Tuesday July 25, 10:03 am ET
Source: Authorhouse

LARKSPUR, Calif., July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Schizophrenia remains a mystery for many patients and doctors, but in his new book Schizophrenia: The Bearded Lady Disease (now available through AuthorHouse), J. Michael Mahoney offers evidence for a theory that would not only explain the cause of this particular ailment, but the root cause of all functional mental illness.

Mahoney has spent 40 years investigating this theory about mental dysfunction. In this collection of 639 quotations from psychologists, patients and the biographers of famous schizophrenics throughout history, he outlines the theory that severe, unconscious bisexual conflict and gender confusion are the primary causes of all mental illness. He draws from the writings of other doctors who believed that such gender identity crises sparked abnormalities in the brain, and their opinions, in addition to the dozens of other ideas, provide "unshakeable truth" to this hypothesis.

"This is a fixed law of nature, unassailable and constantly operative in every case," Mahoney writes. "No other species but man is afflicted with mental illness because no other species has either the intellectual power to repress their sexual feelings, nor the motivation to do so."

He writes that the term "schizophrenia" is an arbitrary name given to designate the end-stage of a process beginning with slight neurosis. All neurosis is caused by this sexual confusion and becomes more pronounced depending on the severity of the bisexual conflict and gender disharmony. A fascinating glimpse inside the minds of schizophrenics through the lens of this unique theory, Schizophrenia: The Bearded Lady Disease examines this hypothesis in a complete collection of ideas from experts who have made it their life's work.

Mahoney spent his career as a journalist in Ohio and Georgia. He also worked as a foreign correspondent in Africa. While working in Georgia, he developed an interest in psychology. After his early retirement, he began research for Schizophrenia: The Bearded Lady Disease. Judith Walker, the artist who painted the original work on the book's cover, studied at Sarah Lawrence College and now lives in Paris.

AuthorHouse is the premier publishing house for emerging authors and new voices in literature. For more information, please visit http://www.authorhouse.com.


EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact:
Promotional Services Department
Tel: 888-728-8467
Fax: 812-961-3133
Email: pressreleases@authorhouse.com
(When requesting a review copy, please provide a street address.)

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.


PS
Webster defines Schizophrenia as a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling, thought (as delusions), perception (as hallucinations), and behavior

[Reprob8]

The folowing is a press release for a book titled Schizophrenia: The Bearded Lady Disease. I have not read this book, but this press release does not sound promising.

I offer the following quote: "unconscious bisexual conflict and gender confusion are the primary causes of all mental illness."

:eek:




Well, the internal battle sure screwed me up and this was supported by the information I got from my therapist. She was so happy when I came out that she gave me a big hug. She told me taht it was the best thing I could have done. But I ussually take these books with a grain of salt.

[Azrael]

This is ridiculous. No mention of biological/chemical factors at all. Also, whatever happened to people being traumatized by others? On top of it all, never mind all the people who are comfortable with their sexuality and still suffer from various forms of mental disorders. Excuse me while I make an absurd face of disgust.

[Reprob8]

This is ridiculous. No mention of biological/chemical factors at all. Also, whatever happened to people being traumatized by others? On top of it all, never mind all the people who are comfortable with their sexuality and still suffer from various forms of mental disorders. Excuse me while I make an absurd face of disgust.


I agree Azrael, I know allot of "crazy people" few of them I would ascribe bi-sexuality to. Any time someone uses the word all in this context makes me sceptical. There are few if any absolutes.

[glantern954]

Here is the official link for the book:

http://www.schizophrenia-thebeardedladydisease.com/

From what I have scanned so far it seems to actually mean repressed bisexuality. I still find the statement and theory that bisexual conflict and gender confusion are the primary causes for ALL mental illness shocking.

[Azrael]

Here is the official link for the book:

http://www.schizophrenia-thebeardedladydisease.com/

From what I have scanned so far it seems to actually mean repressed bisexuality. I still find the statement and theory that bisexual conflict and gender confusion are the primary causes for ALL mental illness shocking.
Yeah, I find blanket statements like that one intellectually irresponsible. I was a little offended by the suggestion myself, being comfortably bisexual and a manic depressive.

[Long Duck Dong]

i do know of the book and i have read it

what it is, is a mixture of quotes based on the understanding of the patient by the specialist... and then protrayed as medical and medical scientific fact

its simply a load of BS.... it have no true basis of fact, merely the quotes the author decided, fitted into what he wants to protray as proven fact

its simply a way of holding bisexuality responsible for mental illness and creating the means to justify the unproven and unsound verdict

i could surf thru the forum here, take a handful of quotes and protray that marriages with a bisexual partner, have a strong base and are less likely to end up in divorce than a marriage with two gay or two hetero partners
i would simply be twisting the wrongs to suit my opinion and not protraying the true facts....

waits for the author to publish the kinsey report # 2

[Driver 8]

I'd just like to point out that this book was published through a vanity press, Author House, strongly suggesting that no reputable publisher would touch it.

[Just_Gem]

First off, as someone that has studied psychology, I would doubt the validity of this book as it was written by a journalist not a psychologist or psychiatrist. :rolleyes: Without stats to back it up, the hypotheses would be useless in practice.

Secondly, anytime someone tries to cover such a large topic using only one blanket is leaving room for the cold to get in, so to speak. NO type of mental illness can be traced to only 1 cause as the causes are as individual as the people suffering from them. Whenever one tries to do this, there will always be at least 1 exception that will make the theroy useless.

Third - this guy must have a crush on Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, most, if not all, mental illness was sexually based. :tongue: Though he didn't think most mental illness was from bisexual conflict, his theories were still based in sexual conflict and parental love/hate.

Anyway, my :2cents: :2cents: :2cents:
Gemm :three:

[smokey]

Just because I am crazy doesn't mean I am mentally ill. Far from it....its how I keep my sanity.

[littlerayofsunshine]

I don't think it has anything to do with conflict with bisexuality at all. He can take all of those bits and peices of doctors info, but only in the last 100 years or so, do women get prenatel care from actual Doctors and medical related studies to maternal health and neonatel developement came about.


STD's only became something that regularly got tested for during pregnancy in the last few decades. There are some STD's that they believe causes schizophrenia. I think syphilis being on of them. There are other comminicable diseases that affect a neonate's developement.

Medical science is an every changing entity, whether it is psychology or health. That's why offices are called Practices. They are still trying to get it right.

[Azrael]

Medical science is an every changing entity, whether it is psychology or health. That's why offices are called Practices. They are still trying to get it right.
Exactly.

[Herbwoman39]

I repressed my bisexuality for YEARS and aside from a little difficulty dealing with large amounts of stress, I'm really damned healthy. This fellow simply published a poorly done study. It's amazing what kind of shoddy research passes for "scientific data" these days. Yeesh.

[12voltman59]

I have not read this book---so I suppose I have no basis to form an opinion--but from what was included in the thread--this is an absolutely fucking ridiculous claim----I would hope that most in psychology/psychiatry would not take this book seriously either---

[Sparks]

I haven't read the book either, but it sounds like more bad science by confused authors. :2cents:

[ophelia_in_red]

From what I have scanned so far it seems to actually mean repressed bisexuality. I still find the statement and theory that bisexual conflict and gender confusion are the primary causes for ALL mental illness shocking.
Agreed. Any theory about fallible, varied, confusing, wonderful humankind that is so absolute in its premise is bound to be wrong, really!

[teddyboy]

I do not suffer from insanity---I embrace it :tong:

[jedinudist]

The voices in my head disagree with this book

[12voltman59]

When I think back to the time when I was doing some work on a master's degree in an area of counselling---there is no concern that this work by this author or authors will gain any kind of a foothold--it sounds as though the authors had a theory they wanted to promote and irrespective of an objective facts to the contrary beyond one case study or those of a few individuals---they have no sound scientific basis to make such a broad and sweeping claim about mental health in general and the specific--I am going to have to ask a friend who is a pyschiatrist if she knows of this work and her opinion about it--I will bet she will tell me that the author(s) is/are idiots and that no professional worth his or her salt will pay it any mind...

But then we do have "scientists" who have irrefutable "proof" that the earth is only 6,000 years old; dinosaurs were something they can't explain--probably a Hollywood hoax; there was a great flood that covered the whole of the earth and a man named Noah made an ark and gathered all of the animals of the planet on the thing; one is not born homosexual or bisexual--one chooses to be and they are temporary conditions that can be cured--mostly by prayer and repentance; there is no global warming caused by the activities of human kind and the big one--God has this perfect place called 'heaven" up in the heavens someplace--but he is going to establish his kingdom on this planet in a physical form---a planet that along with the universe will someday cease to exist...????? :soapbox: :banghead: :banghead:

[DGoncz]

I'd just like to point out that this book was published through a vanity press, Author House, strongly suggesting that no reputable publisher would touch it.

Well, there ya go. It's bullshit.

I agree that repressed bisexual conflict can cause schizophrenia, but so can LSD, battle trauma, rape, "the double bind", and psychodrama between parent and child. The authors have an agenda. What is it?

I am schizoaffective with a secondary diagnosis of sexual abuse and pretty happy with my gender, my polybisexuality, and my self. Sex is my safe place. Sex is how I pray. But I could come out more and I think my therapist would support me in that in a way even my lovers and life partners could not. And that's a conflict, but an conflict betwen self and society. I wonder if that is included in the book. One can be too inclusive; by blaming everything on everything, one knows little about essentially nothing.

Hell, of all parts of society except the radical right, the existing psychological treatment community is probably about as sex-negative as it can get, doing nothing to help, if not *causing* schizophrenia in the patients they treat. Sure, there are sex therapists for those who can afford them, but those who are out of touch are poor, and that kind of therapy is not available to them. I feel this personally, and wonder if this book is an agenda for change in the treatment community. If it is that, then vanity publishing has merit, as the whole concept is outside the establishement, and so does the book. I haven't read it but they advertise in Psychology Today.

Snuggles to all my buds at bisexual.com. What a great resource!

I am *not* going to threadjack here by reporting what a wonderful time I had at a local poly group erotic and sensual massage workshop last night. Woops, I just did!

[julie]

....any internal conflict that is suppressed/repressed can be an underlying trigger for mental illness...as many folk before have stressed perfectly eloquently..

..I do wonder though, why so many of us are so affronted by the suggestion that our bisexual orientation can be a major trigger for such internal distress?.. yes i appreciate the theory quoted is very rigid in its assumptions..but that doesnt mean there isnt a grain of truth in what it is trying to convey..

...just look at the considerable anguish so many of us express in these forums...about our ethical issues if you like..... about coming out..who to? partner, children, family friends, community???...do we stay monogamous, be polygamous, be discreet about addressing our sexual needs not met by our partners..... or just expect/hope for their acceptance that this is what we need to do in order to fully fuction healthily...

whether we are out to all, regardlessless of the impact that has on those close to us who just dont get it... and so may well feel humiliated by their partners seeming rejection of the the love they offer as just not being enough..ouch that has got to hurt! Or we live with secrets and lies, suppressing/repressing our sexuality needs and desires because of love for our loved ones, fearing the cost of our being out will destroy them...or of fear for ourselves because of what it may cost us...

.... we only have to look at the horrific consequences our own much loved 'rupertbear' suffered and is still suffering. Once the penny dropped with his wife that his bisexuality was real.. it was not a silly phaze he was going through but he had fallen in love with his same sex partners..and many years later still grieved the loss of their affections.. This realisation was enough for her to throw him out of their marital home, take out a court order banning him from seeing his two youngest children( this order still stands i believe) but not before screaming and calling his a filthy pervert who has sex with men, in front of the children, resulting in them being so confused they have chosen not to be in contact with their father..at least for the short term...

..rupert, a recovering alcoholic with 15 years sobriety (of both alcohol and men) ended up homeless and suicidal, self harming by putting out cigarettes on his arm and was finally placed in a local psychiatric unit..which, to quote rupe, made 'one flew over the cuckoos nest' look like quite a pleasant establishment by comparison.. he is is resident in halfway house psychiatric accomodation..his future is uncertain..

so can we stop behaving like ostriches and maybe even rejoice???!! the medical world not only acknowledges that bisexuality is very real... it also doesnt underestimate how costly to healthy mental functioning it can be...

..i have seen a few psychiatrists in the process of my current long tern major depressive illness... each of whom has acknowledged empathicly my bisexuality and respected my peace in finally recognising it as part of who i am..

..so was my bisexuality a major cause of my mental illness?..of course it was!!.. no doubt about it!!...because covertly, completely out of my awareness, it caused me to totally shut down a part of myself that was
unacceptable to society...and if that part of me surfaced at adolescence.. i would have experienced such complete rejection and humiliation i would have probably taken my own life as a consequence ...

it is actually societies response to bisexuality, not bisexuality itself, that sowed the seeds of my mental devastastation and subsequent catastrophic breakdown...resulting in my being, happily married(so i believed) and nursing my second baby when the truth did out and i realised i was falling in love with a woman... and that my whole marriage was built on secrets and lies and so had no substance whatsoever...

...well thats my :2cents: from the stance of someone who is extensively trained as a counsellor( lots of impact of oppression work such as race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, co-depependant processes, impact of addictions etc) and also has experienced first hand much of what the psychiatric services have to offer to patients( very little it would seem :( as well as having undergone lots of individual as well as group psychotherapy..


sorry for going on so much.. probably wrote this as much for mine as much as anybody elses benefit!..so thanks for the opportortunity to self indulge myself a little ;)

cheers julie :female: x x x

[laloo3]

fiddlesticks. I am a quite experienced mental health professional with years of experience treating schizophrenia. As a previous response noted, ANY kind of conflict can precipitate a break, from losing your job to facing heterosexuality in adolescence. While i think that there has to be an underlying predispostion, the most potent interpersonal factor seems to be having been the object of intense mental cruelty as a child. I know of no evidence that either active or repressed bisexuals suffer from more emotional difficulties than the population at large.

[Driver 8]

..I do wonder though, why so many of us are so affronted by the suggestion that our bisexual orientation can be a major trigger for such internal distress?..
Perhaps because there's a century-long history of psychological and psychiatric writing about non-straight orientations that boils down to "I don't like it, so it must have something to do with a mental disorder."


so can we stop behaving like ostriches and maybe even rejoice???!! the medical world not only acknowledges that bisexuality is very real... it also doesnt underestimate how costly to healthy mental functioning it can be...
This book has nothing to do with "the medical world" - it was written by someone with no background in the field, then published by Author House, who will publish any book if the author fronts the money for it.

By all accounts, this isn't a book suggesting that being gay, lesbian, or bisexual causes stress, which leads to suffering. I don't think there's a single person on this forum who would disagree with that idea. What the book in question does suggest is that schizophrenia - a particular mental illness with a strong genetic component - is caused by unconscious bisexual conflict. This is wildly at odds with the current medical consensus. It doesn't seem to me to have anything to do with Rupert's case as you've described it, either - Rupert is very much aware of his orientation, there's nothing unconscious about it, and insofar as it's a problem for him it's because of the external factors of societal prejudice, not because of his internal struggles accepting it.

The author of Bearded Lady then goes on to explain that he's found the "primary" cause of all mental illness. I will venture that if evidence for such a primary cause is one day found, it will be announced in peer-reviewed medical journals, and the discoverer will not have to foot the bill with a vanity press to get the word out to the world.

[SteveB]

I am a mental health professional working for Mind, the largest mental health charity in Britain, and just from the publicity you can tell that this book is ridiculous. I hate to think that someone will read this and take it as being true because they are searching for some answers. Go to an independent mental health organisation for up-to-date and correct information regarding mental illness, including www.mind.org.uk

[citystyleguy]

the title alone is worth a comedy routine if it werent for the seriousness of the subject. this is what happens when ignorance, without worthy cause nor factual evidence, gives its psuedo-science meaning by utilizing scientific terminology to provide credence.

the initial statement that states absolutes only emphasis the anti-intellectual stance of the author; over a hundered years of research contradict the authors stance, with actual research and not quotes from pre-selected individuals.

the idea that neurosis is strictly related to sexual conflict was discredited decades ago, but write a new book, slap on the words "scientific research" to give false support, direct your writing to underwrite a pre-conceived concept, and viola, some fodder for the publicitiy mill.

this is up there with the eugenics of the Nazi's and the biological pusedo-science of the Soviet Union that failed in their attempts to justify horrific platforms of racial and ethinic superiority, all in the order to create the New Man!

the real danger comes from those who will utilize this garbage in order to bring their twisted ideas of the perfect society.

revel in your differences, it is a far better society!

[ladymozart]

I think this is a bunch of bullshit! I have a major psychiatric illness and i don't believe that it was cuased by my bisexuality. I was mentally ill far before iwas ever confused about my sexuality.
The fact that this was written by journalists for me is enough evidence that this stuff is crap but i havent read it and being the intelectual that i am i wont completly write it off but i dont have much confidence in its ideas or theories.
this is just my opinion
thanks
ladymozart

[Azrael]

Mahoney spent his career as a journalist in Ohio and Georgia. He also worked as a foreign correspondent in Africa. While working in Georgia, he developed an interest in psychology. After his early retirement, he began research for Schizophrenia: The Bearded Lady Disease.

Perhaps these are the most telling lines of the article. He's a Journalist, not a mental health professional. I know I've already torn into this peice but I felt this was noteworthy.

[julie]

Perhaps because there's a century-long history of psychological and psychiatric writing about non-straight orientations that boils down to "I don't like it, so it must have something to do with a mental disorder."


This book has nothing to do with "the medical world" - it was written by someone with no background in the field, then published by Author House, who will publish any book if the author fronts the money for it.

By all accounts, this isn't a book suggesting that being gay, lesbian, or bisexual causes stress, which leads to suffering. I don't think there's a single person on this forum who would disagree with that idea. What the book in question does suggest is that schizophrenia - a particular mental illness with a strong genetic component - is caused by unconscious bisexual conflict. This is wildly at odds with the current medical consensus. It doesn't seem to me to have anything to do with Rupert's case as you've described it, either - Rupert is very much aware of his orientation, there's nothing unconscious about it, and insofar as it's a problem for him it's because of the external factors of societal prejudice, not because of his internal struggles accepting it.

The author of Bearded Lady then goes on to explain that he's found the "primary" cause of all mental illness. I will venture that if evidence for such a primary cause is one day found, it will be announced in peer-reviewed medical journals, and the discoverer will not have to foot the bill with a vanity press to get the word out to the world.

...i am not condoning the book driver8, or even writing a review of it(?!) not for one moment!

Instead i chose not to even dignify its conclusions with a response ...i regret not making that clearer in my post, but confess didnt bother as i didnt expect such critical attention to be given to an edited selection of some of my musings ..

....which were actually written from an experientially, as well as theoretically well informed stance..... where i chose instead to focus on the reality that bisexual conflict can cause mental illness..which is, after all, the question this thread poses...

...my point about rupert was not that his inner conflict regards his sexuality caused his severe mental health problems.. rupert is one of the most grounded person i know regards his sexual orientation and what he wants from his bisexual life.....

.... the point i was trying to make was that the illness rupert is experiencing is an indirect but nontheless catastrophic consequence of his bisexuality, it is clearly nothing to do with being a direct consequence of his 'sexual conflict'... not that i believe i ever inferred that it was..to be fair Driver8! ..sighs...

Ok so maybe i dont share your eloquence or academic prowess.. . but i do believe my comments are valid..and may even be of some use to folks who are struggling with their own bisexuality related demons/ mental health issues.... and maybe have a very different reason to you for reading the responses to this thread ....

.... my comments were never intended for those folks whose focus was about yet another predjudicial quack writing an ill informed book about bisexuality being the root of all evil or whatever ... not that i am in anyway discrediting this focus, far from it!...i have always celebrated the diversity of these forums..

its just my comments took a different perspective.... where i wanted to validate that sometimes bisexual conflict can be an underlying cause of mental illness...and concluded, just like you so kindly pointed out to me driver8, that actually it is societies response to bisexuality that is the actual underlying problem..

..i have cut and pasted my conclusions again for you... because in the light of your (i feel) rather harsh and quite intimidating critique of my post i wonder if you maybe didnt absorb them fully during your first reading of them?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"..so was my bisexuality a major cause of my mental illness?..of course it was!!.. no doubt about it!!...because covertly, completely out of my awareness, it caused me to totally shut down a part of myself that was
unacceptable to society...and if that part of me surfaced at adolescence.. i would have experienced such complete rejection and humiliation i would have probably taken my own life as a consequence ...

***it is actually societies response to bisexuality, not bisexuality itself, that sowed the seeds of my mental devastastation and subsequent catastrophic breakdown..***."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
....i hope that maybe this is gives you a little more clarity regards the points i was, perhaps rather clumsily, attempting to convey in my post..

with kind regards to you

julie.... :female:

[julie]

I am a mental health professional working for Mind, the largest mental health charity in Britain, and just from the publicity you can tell that this book is ridiculous. I hate to think that someone will read this and take it as being true because they are searching for some answers. Go to an independent mental health organisation for up-to-date and correct information regarding mental illness, including www.mind.org.uk

i second that... i have always found Mind publications to be incredibly helpful, informative and reader friendly..both professionally and personally..

many thanks for the link Steve

cheers Julie :female:

[Driver 8]

..i have cut and pasted my conclusions again for you... because in the light of your (i feel) rather harsh and quite intimidating critique of my post i wonder if you maybe didnt absorb them fully during your first reading of them?
Yes, Julie, I did read your post. Here are some of your other conclucsions:

..I do wonder though, why so many of us are so affronted by the suggestion that our bisexual orientation can be a major trigger for such internal distress?.. yes i appreciate the theory quoted is very rigid in its assumptions..but that doesnt mean there isnt a grain of truth in what it is trying to convey..
[...]so can we stop behaving like ostriches and maybe even rejoice???!!
If you're going to claim there is a "grain of truth" in the book the discussion is about, and suggest that its critics are "affronted" "ostriches" refusing to acknowledge said grain, then I don't see why you're surprised that said ostriches come back to give their answers to the questions you yourself asked.

And, finally, I don't think I wrote anything as "harsh" as calling you an "ostrich" or suggesting that you hadn't understood what I wrote. I don't agree with what you posted, but it doesn't follow that I'm sticking my head in the sand refusing to acknowledge facts that I don't like.

[julie]

[QUOTE=Driver 8]Yes, Julie, I did read your post. Here are some of your other conclucsions:

If you're going to claim there is a "grain of truth" in the book the discussion is about, and suggest that its critics are "affronted" "ostriches" refusing to acknowledge said grain, then I don't see why you're surprised that said ostriches come back to give their answers to the questions you yourself asked.

And, finally, I don't think I wrote anything as "harsh" as calling you an "ostrich" or suggesting that you hadn't understood what I wrote. I don't agree with what you posted, but it doesn't follow that I'm sticking my head in the sand refusing to acknowledge facts that I don't like.[/QUO

please hear this driver8..

.I AM NOT CLAIMING THERE IS A GRAIN OF TRUTH IN THE BOOK.....OR OTHERWISE!!!!

I AM CLAIMING there is a grain of truth in the question posed by this thread.... 'mental illness caused by bisexual conflict?..

...sometimes by having a strong reaction to something so rigidly stereotypical we can throw out the baby with the bathwater... i use 'we' deliberately, not to name call...if you felt insulted by my use of language i suspect there are cultural differences between you and i that trigger a very different response in each other than were intended.. because i too find it difficult to accept that there can be more than a grain of truth in uncomfortable stereotypes....and actually, for what its worth, i do believe we are saying the same thing..that the cause for mental illness in bisexual conflict is, of course, rooted in societies values..

...please can we just bring this to a close now?..

...and please rest assured, i will think long and hard about responding to threads in the forums in future.. i've struggled far too much to try to manage this conflict..i'm not sure i want to visit this place of having to justify myself so vehemently ever again

sadly julie

[Azrael]

I AM CLAIMING there is a grain of truth in the question posed by this thread.... 'mental illness caused by bisexual conflict?..

...sometimes by having a strong reaction to something so rigidly stereotypical we can throw out the baby with the bathwater... i use 'we' deliberately, not to name call...if you felt insulted by my use of language i suspect there are cultural differences between you and i that trigger a very different response in each other than were intended.. because i too find it difficult to accept that there can be more than a grain of truth in uncomfortable stereotypes....and actually, for what its worth, i do believe we are saying the same thing..that the cause for mental illness in bisexual conflict is, of course, rooted in societies values..

...please can we just bring this to a close now?..

...and please rest assured, i will think long and hard about responding to threads in the forums in future.. i've struggled far too much to try to manage this conflict..i'm not sure i want to visit this place of having to justify myself so vehemently ever again

sadly julie
Well, having considered your post, I have to grudgingly agree, despite this not really being directed at me. I just got rather vehement myself about this being the basis for ALL mental illness. Having said that, I certainly have a bit of stress from my own sexual identity, from the attitudes of some friends and family members not understanding and coming to foolish conclusions that this must be why I'm manic depressive. I was totally comfortable with myself before I lost my mind, and now I'm surrounded by my television brainwashed family making their own blanket statements about me. It's hard for me to hold on to what I know myself to be when I'm constantly being second-guessed and having everything I as a sentient adult enjoy doing being picked apart and analyzed. All I got is my stubborn Celtic blood and my friends. That aside, I respect what you're trying to say.

[KatieBi]

BAAAHHHHHHH!!! (excuse my mental outburst and current fit of jumping up and down whil throwing my popcorn at the wall ... it keeps me sane ;-) )

I guess I react so strongly to this book/post because I encountered the same opinion during a dinner with a friend last night. An article came up about GLBT issues on the nightly news and he started a tirade about how, eg, transsexuals are really just mentally unstable folks looking for any excuse to blame, and how bisexuals, though "natural, and have always existed" are just folks who need to "commit to one side or the other already. You suffer from the excessive spoiling/liberality of today's society..."

Hrmmm...really not sure how much longer he's going to be my friend after his comments last evening (especially since I've told him I'm bi) ... but it breaks my heart because he's been such a great influence in all areas of my life outside of this blindness/ignorance (and is generally gay positive). (Personal aside, "Man (or woman), do I need a hug!")

Okay, after a few deep breaths, I can acknowledge that certain genetic factors can predispose us to other kinds of illness ... but I won't buy this one until I see some solid scientific evidence instead of just some anecodotal b.s. As already stated, there are lots of other explanations/traumas a person can suffer besides or in addition to their bisexuality that contribute to these mental illnesses.

[Herbwoman39]

With all due respect to opposing views, Julie's point is very valid. Repression of ANY sort can lead to some serious mental issues. As scary as it is for us all to admit, were situations different for us, we might all be in a very different mental state.

Yes, there are theoretical genetic predispositions for various conditions, but there has to be some sort of trigger for those predispositions to come into fruition. The stress caused by repression of an entire part of a human being might be one of those triggers.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think that the idea here was that it is societal programming and stress, NOT bisexuality itself, that may cause a mental break.

These are just my observations. No flogging, please :)

[glantern954]

The problem with email and forum messages is that it is very easy to accidentally set the wrong tone to a message or a response. Especially if you are trying to make an important point in as few words as possible. I don't think anyone here was intentionally trying to be harsh at first.

Don't forget to use Smiles or emoticons to help set the tone in messages.
:)

[Driver 8]

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I think that the idea here was that it is societal programming and stress, NOT bisexuality itself, that may cause a mental break.
That depends whose idea you mean, Herbwoman - the author of the book that started the whole thread, or different individual posters here.

Mahoney makes it clear in his excerpts and interviews that he is discussing patients' inability to "resolve" their "bisexual conflict" by accepting their masculine or feminine sides (http://www.schizophrenia-thebeardedladydisease.com/AFTERWORD.htm) - he is not in any way suggesting that societal oppression of GLBT people is the cause of mental illness.

Yes, stress causes problems, and I don't think anyone here has argued against that idea. But that's very different from what Mahoney's is arguing, and I think it's important to distinguish between the two.

(Although Mahoney uses the word "bisexual" constantly, the excerpts from his book sound more as though he's talking about gender identity; and his favorite case, Freud's patient Daniel Paul Schreber, was a schizophrenic who believed that God was turning him into a woman.)

[DGoncz]

Hey, fellow bisexuals and interested parties.

I went to authorhouse.com and read About The Book:

-----
"Man has long searched for the cause and meaning of mental illness. This book attempts to answer those questions. The author/compiler has spent 36 years investigating these problems and his conclusion is that severe unconscious bisexual conflict and confusion lie at the root of all mental illness, as difficult to comprehend as this idea may be.

The book itself consists of 639 quotations, from a variety of sources, all of which point to the unshakable truth of this hypothesis. This is a fixed law of nature, unassailable and constantly operative in every case. No other species but man is afflicted with mental illness because no other species has either the intellectual power to repress their sexual feelings nor the motivation to do so.

The disease we call “schizophrenia” is but an arbitrary name, which is used to designate the end-stage of a process beginning with a slight neurosis. The more severe the bisexual conflict and confusion in the individual, the more severe the degree of the mental illness which is experienced.

Several other investigators in the past have reached this same conclusion, but unfortunately their wisdom went largely unheeded. Hopefully this book will remedy that ill-advised neglect.

"
----------
As you can see, this is merely a compilation, and in the section, About The Author, Mahoney is referred to as an author/compiler, not even an editor. All he did was pull together a lot of stuff other people wrote supporting his thesis, which, as stated above, has been proposed by others. Notably Freud, mentioned in this thread, and the book.

The e-copy of the book is $5.95. I have that much sitting in my checking.

As a schizoaffective with a history of sexual assault, I do find, on reviewing my own history, that I was most separated from the world (schizo=chasm or gap, phrenia=world or universe) when I was most confused about my gender, gender orientation, gender identity, and gender role. I think now, that, rather than discounting the book on the basis of authorship type and publishing relationship, that I will spend the $5.95 and read (reread) these quotes.

But who's to say whether the *cause* of SZ is the gender confusion, or the *effect*? Who's to say there's no organic brain dysfunction or societal trauma causing brain dysfunction? To resolve that question, I will now go spend $5.95 and download, knowing what I am getting for my money.

SZ is separation from world, yes, but that is a picture of separation from feeling, from self. SZ patients look unresponsive and we'd *think* they are out of touch, but actually many report overwhelming hyperacuity: sensory overload. Now that's brain dysfunction, not gender conflict.

But I'd like to finish by saying that it was clear from the OP on this thread that Mahoney's thesis is that *conflict* makes for SZ, not bisexuality itself. Gender identity is a given, to the extent that medical treatment can change it, and acceptance of the given is always the way to ease suffering. This is mentioned by Zen philosophers.

By the way, I have a series of topics I write about in Usenet and you may see *my* work on authorhouse.com one day or another vanity house. So I withdraw "It's bullshit" above posted. That was knee-jerk.

Healthy sexuality is everybody's natural right, whether it's asexuality and celibacy, homo-, hetero-, or bi- sexuality, what ever. Wendy Malz, a survivor of assault, writes and teaches about healthy sex on her site

healthysex.com.

and I'd love to hear what she has to say about this!

I'm off to spend six bucks. Email me and look here for fair use excerpts, if the damn thing is not totally copy/paste protected.

The Dougster

[Herbwoman39]

Mahoney makes it clear in his excerpts and interviews that he is discussing
patients' inability to "resolve" their "bisexual conflict" by accepting their masculine or feminine sides (http://www.schizophrenia-thebeardedladydisease.com/AFTERWORD.htm) - he is not in any way suggesting that societal oppression of GLBT people is the cause of mental illness.

Yes, stress causes problems, and I don't think anyone here has argued against that idea. But that's very different from what Mahoney's is arguing, and I think it's important to distinguish between the two.

(Although Mahoney uses the word "bisexual" constantly, the excerpts from his book sound more as though he's talking about gender identity; and his favorite case, Freud's patient Daniel Paul Schreber, was a schizophrenic who believed that God was turning him into a woman.)

In my opinion the author hasn't got a leg to stand on and I've been ignoring his research completely. No, my thoughts are based on personal experience and the experiences of others both here on the website and in the three-dimensional world.

The excerpt you quote discusses Freud. Having been a psychology student for a year, I know that, while Freud was amazing in his time, his theories were faulty. According to his analysis, EVERYTHING boiled down to sex. We now know that human beings are really more complicated than that. So how can Mahoney's research be taken seriously?