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Narratives Of Those Who Were Labeled Mentally Ill Due To Sexual Orientation, Michelle Gricus

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Prior to the printing of the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) in 1980, mental health practitioners who treated homosexual clients were encouraged by the American Psychiatric Association to define these individuals as mentally ill. The label of mental illness had lasting, damaging effects on many of the people who were categorized mentally ill because of their homosexual orientation. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study was to examine the impact of being labeled mentally ill due to sexual orientation from the perspective of labeling and ecological theories. The study showed that the ability …