Patient Sexual Orientation on Diagnosis Since DSM-IV

Since the creation of DSM-IV as a diagnostic tool, whether or not a patient is homosexual has affected their diagnosis. Whether or not this should be so is a discussion for another day, but why it is so is a more pressing question which needs to be answered. Concerns that many people are not getting the proper clinical diagnosis simply because they have a sexual orientation that varies from what is considered normal are likely not unfounded. In order to determine whether or not this effect on their diagnosis is detrimental, or even legitimate, it will be necessary to examine not only the history of clinical diagnosis, but how homosexuals are treated by psychologists in the present day.

The intent of this paper is to examine the available literature on this topic in several different ways in order to obtain a clear understanding...
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