I am gay and in the late 70s a married lady told me her analyst had just said she was "castrating". Yes, that's the word used.
I quickly realized that "castrating" meant emasculating her husband which sounded awfully like the theory that homosexual males were the results of effete father/domineering mother.
I decided to read the pathologizing discourses in psychology of homosexuality, and saw quickly that it was a pathologizing of male effeminacy. And that the discomfort this field, and its antecedents, felt for women was being transposed onto these discourses.
Since that time I have viewed both psychology and psychiatry with great suspicion.
I have observed two central dynamics in the movements that Dr. McHugh discusses. One of these dynamics comes from the professionals, which is the need on their part to believe they have The Answer, The Cure. If these professionals are sufficiently charismatic and convincing, they can attract a following of individuals who also believe that there are ultimate Answers.
Sigmund Freud certainly created a cult of this type, in which any dissent from his ideas was completely suppressed. The entire psychoanalytic movement would cancel the dissenters by ignoring their work or by actively smearing the individuals who disagreed with the dogma.
The second dynamic operating in these movements is driven by the personalities of the people who join them. Cults attract a disproportionate number of individuals who have significant levels of psychopathology of the type that in Freud's day was called "Hysteria" and in present day psychiatry is classified as one or more of the "Cluster B Personality Disorders." Such people experience a lot of distress, focus on emotions at the expense of reasoning, are suggestible, like to be seen as victims, want to feel special, and seek security in certainties rather than in skepticism. They can be tenaciously loyal to cult leaders and their teachings until their personal needs are no longer met by them, at which point the followers may feel deeply betrayed and turn on the leaders they previously idealized.
Groups and movements of the above type elicit the development of counter movements that often have some of the same characteristics. Members of a counter movement typically will refuse to acknowledge any positive aspects of the groups they oppose and will characterize the groups' leaders as well as their ideas and practices as All Bad. The former members and their new allies will tend to externalize all the blame for their disillusionment onto the cult and its leaders, while avoiding examination of what it was about themselves that led them to latch onto that group in the first place and to actively contribute to the development of an authoritarian culture within it.
I think it is worth mentioning in the context of this discussion that all mainstream types of psychotherapy are effective in relieving distress and reducing symptoms. There is a large pile of evidence for this that dates back decades. Modern versions of psychoanalysis are among the forms of therapy that can be helpful. Biological psychiatry is also a worthy pursuit, but it has failed to produce the outcomes that Dr. McHugh stated he wants to see, i.e., a system of diagnoses and treatments that conforms to the traditional medical model. Neither psychiatry nor psychology has found The Answers, but both professions as well as other healthcare professions are able to provide substantial assistance to individuals who are experiencing emotional distress and symptoms of mental disorders.
I am gay and in the late 70s a married lady told me her analyst had just said she was "castrating". Yes, that's the word used.
I quickly realized that "castrating" meant emasculating her husband which sounded awfully like the theory that homosexual males were the results of effete father/domineering mother.
I decided to read the pathologizing discourses in psychology of homosexuality, and saw quickly that it was a pathologizing of male effeminacy. And that the discomfort this field, and its antecedents, felt for women was being transposed onto these discourses.
Since that time I have viewed both psychology and psychiatry with great suspicion.
I have observed two central dynamics in the movements that Dr. McHugh discusses. One of these dynamics comes from the professionals, which is the need on their part to believe they have The Answer, The Cure. If these professionals are sufficiently charismatic and convincing, they can attract a following of individuals who also believe that there are ultimate Answers.
Sigmund Freud certainly created a cult of this type, in which any dissent from his ideas was completely suppressed. The entire psychoanalytic movement would cancel the dissenters by ignoring their work or by actively smearing the individuals who disagreed with the dogma.
The second dynamic operating in these movements is driven by the personalities of the people who join them. Cults attract a disproportionate number of individuals who have significant levels of psychopathology of the type that in Freud's day was called "Hysteria" and in present day psychiatry is classified as one or more of the "Cluster B Personality Disorders." Such people experience a lot of distress, focus on emotions at the expense of reasoning, are suggestible, like to be seen as victims, want to feel special, and seek security in certainties rather than in skepticism. They can be tenaciously loyal to cult leaders and their teachings until their personal needs are no longer met by them, at which point the followers may feel deeply betrayed and turn on the leaders they previously idealized.
Groups and movements of the above type elicit the development of counter movements that often have some of the same characteristics. Members of a counter movement typically will refuse to acknowledge any positive aspects of the groups they oppose and will characterize the groups' leaders as well as their ideas and practices as All Bad. The former members and their new allies will tend to externalize all the blame for their disillusionment onto the cult and its leaders, while avoiding examination of what it was about themselves that led them to latch onto that group in the first place and to actively contribute to the development of an authoritarian culture within it.
I think it is worth mentioning in the context of this discussion that all mainstream types of psychotherapy are effective in relieving distress and reducing symptoms. There is a large pile of evidence for this that dates back decades. Modern versions of psychoanalysis are among the forms of therapy that can be helpful. Biological psychiatry is also a worthy pursuit, but it has failed to produce the outcomes that Dr. McHugh stated he wants to see, i.e., a system of diagnoses and treatments that conforms to the traditional medical model. Neither psychiatry nor psychology has found The Answers, but both professions as well as other healthcare professions are able to provide substantial assistance to individuals who are experiencing emotional distress and symptoms of mental disorders.