Abstract

DUNKER, Christian Ingo Lenz  and  KYRILLOS NETO, Fuad. Curar a Homossexualidade?: a psicopatologia prática do DSM no Brasil. Rev. Mal-Estar Subj. [online]. 2010, vol.10, n.2, pp. 425-446. ISSN 1518-6148.

We are going to discuss the way that the absorption of the categories in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - DSM infuences psychoterapeutic practices. In order to do that, we'll mention the punishment of a psychologist by the Federal Council of Psychology. This professional offered to her patients a treatment that was supposedly able to cure homosexuality. We will talk about this fact from two perspectives. Adopting the premise that mental health is a microcosm in our country and that the absorption of diagnostic systems, such as any form of technology, implies a process of cultural assimilation. We intend to compare some aspects of what we call practical psychopathology inspired by the DSM, in the american mental health system (where it was originated) and in the brazilian context of anti-asylum reform. The second perspective intends to examine how DSM is positioned in the vast field of psycopathology, more specifically on issues related to sexuality, in the context of this practical psychopathology. We conclude that although DSM denies that there are transcendent instances which we can use when the essay is related to the subjects suffering, according to its nominalist and conventionalist proposal, the scientific classifications expressed by this instrument, in topics related to power, is very fragile, particularly in the understanding of the relations between gender, and sexuality in its relation to symptom formation.

Keywords : Homosexuality; DSM; Psychopathology; Psychoanalysis; Clinical.

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