(CNN) -- The American Psychological Association concluded Wednesday that there is little evidence that efforts to change a person's sexual orientation from gay or lesbian to heterosexual are effective.
The report looks at 87 studies conducted between 1960 and 2007.
In addition, the 138-page report -- covering 87 peer-reviewed studies -- said that such efforts may cause harm.
"Contrary to claims of sexual orientation change advocates and practitioners, there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation," said Judith M. Glassgold, chairwoman of the task force that presented the report at the group's annual meeting in Toronto, Canada. The Washington-based association represents more than 150,000 members.
"At most, certain studies suggested that some individuals learned how to ignore or not act on their homosexual attractions. Yet, these studies did not indicate for whom this was possible, how long it lasted or its long-term mental health effects. Also, this result was much less likely to be true for people who started out only attracted to people of the same sex."
In response, the group's governing Council of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday urging mental health professionals not to recommend to their clients that they can change their sexual orientation through therapy or any other methods.
The group's Task Force on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation reached its conclusion after its review of 87 studies conducted between 1960 and 2007 and finding "serious methodological problems" in the vast majority of them.
Those few studies that did have "high-quality" evidence "show that enduring change to an individual's sexual orientation is uncommon," it said.
In addition, the report cited evidence that efforts to switch a person's sexual orientation through aversive treatments might cause harm, including loss of sexual feeling, suicidality, depression and anxiety.
Many who tried to change and failed "described their experiences as a significant cause of emotional and spiritual distress and negative self-image," it said.
The six-member task force was appointed two years ago to address concerns about "efforts to promote the notion that sexual orientation can be changed through psychotherapy or approaches that mischaracterize homosexuality as a mental disorder."
The American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1975.
I'm sorry to employ an article title that promised a viewpoint other than my own. But here it is: there are doubtless a number of people here on Gather who still feel that gay identity is a choice, and one that can easily be "fixed" with the right kind of "conditioning" or "therapy". Just thought you might like to know, the experts do not feel that way about it. Just as the experts on climatology do not feel that climate change is imaginary. But that's a whole 'nother topic.
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Comments: 23
Straight or gay = genetic = as is the instance when a person wants to change sex - their psyche does not match their genitals.
Bigoted thinking, however, can be cured.
Murderers, pedophiles, Blackwater Security Staff, all those are a conscious choice with negative consequences.
It is normal for all life forms to express in multiple forms - known as polymorphism.
E.g. Pigeons are many colors.
Animals born with defects are also part of the norm, - the norm being that life forms are expressed in many different forms. That is the NORM. It is normal.
It is normal to have Giantism, Dwarfism, Primordial Dwarfism - born to people - these are just a few of the many ways that human lives are expressed.
Primordial dwarfism - Capt. Tom Thumb, Thumbelina - is a condition in which children are extremely small, and appear to be about 5 years old, instead of 9 or 16. Other facts exist, too. Very rare.
I child in New Zealand, a girl in the Midwest USA. Very are. A few others currently in the world.
It's good to know that there's no point in trying to change it so I won't ever be tempted. :-)
As for 'turning' someone, it's a ridiculous notion. If someone tried to convince me that I should be homosexual or would be shunned and ridiculed, I would not be able to will myself to be attracted to the same sex. And people who are in this situation, where they are pressured or threatened to change their orientation, are forced to hide who they essentially are as human beings, many times leading to anywhere from depression to suicide.
I really wish this country would grow up emotionally and psychologically. A lot has to do with relgious oppression, but a lot has to do with emotional immaturity and hatred of someone who isn't 'just like you'.