There are psychological disorders that are broadly named phobias and then there are others named personality disorders (PD’s)˳ Phobias refers to fears and PD’s refers to serious personality disorders that is either extremely harmful to yourself and/or to others around you˳
Among the fears there are hundreds of examples: Arachnophobia (fear of spiders), claustrophobia (fear of small spaces), Ablutophobia (fear of washing or bathing), Achluophobia (fear of darkness), Aeroacrophobia (fear of open high places), Agrizoophobia (fear of wild animals), Atychiphobia (fear of failure), Xenophobia (fear of strangers or foreigners), Zelophobia (fear of jealousy), Necrophobia (fear of death or dead things), Nudophobia (fear of nudity)˳ Believe me, those are but a few of the many, many fears people might have˳ Normally these fears are only a little embarrassing for the one who has it, but in some cases it can be such an obstacle in your life that you need treatment˳ There are many forms of treatment that ranges from medication to in vivo sensitization (just a smart way of helping you to face your fear)˳
The PD’s are on average much more serious˳ The better known PD is Antisocial Personality Disorder or its worst form: being a psychopath (that is the friendly characters like Hannibal Lecter in Thomas Harris’s horror series)˳ There are many different personality disorders like narcissistic PD (when loving yourself becomes psychotic); histrionic PD (when your need for approval becomes psychotic) and a few more˳ In comparison to phobias the PD’s are much more difficult if not impossible to cure˳ There are many possible treatments for the PD’s but, in all honesty, we don’t have a successful treatment for them˳ We can not treat psychopaths; we have to lock them up˳
I tried to explain the difference between the phobias and the PD’s for a reason; hopefully you have a clear picture in your head by now˳ In a less academic sense we could say that phobias can be severe, but PD’s are always severe˳ Phobias tend to be an obstacle in life while the PD’s can be life threatening˳ Phobias make life difficult for yourself while PD’s makes life impossible for those around you˳
Now my question: Is it correct to talk about homophobia or would it be better to coin a new idea like for instance: Anti-homo personality disorder˳ Is that which we normally call homophobia an irrational fear of homosexuals or is it a severe condition that threatens the lives of homosexuals?
A while ago South African gay-rights activist Coenie Kukkuk wrote an open letter to the Police and their bosses about the murders of gay men in Gauteng˳ I am not asking whether the murderer has an Anti-homo Personality disorder; I am sure that all serial killers are psychopaths˳ I am asking whether the persons that do not take murders like these serious are not suffering from an Anti-homo Personality disorder˳
Murderers and especially those who are guilty of pre-meditated murder are the extreme form of life threatening persons, but to some extent they are normally dealt with in a court; they go to jail˳ My problem is the ones that do not commit murder; the ones that make life impossible for others˳ These include family members and parents of queer-folk˳
Am I demonizing homophobia? Yes I am, because homophobia isn’t a phobia at all; it is a serious life threatening personality disorder˳
How many times have you been in a conversation where people refer positively to HIV as a “cure” for homosexuals? How many times have you been in a conversation where killing, hitting, abusing or hating queer people is seen as normal and right; just as right as it was in 1939-1945 to kill Jews in Germany˳ Today society looks back at Nazi-Germany and is appalled at what happened there˳ The same people who are appalled at the things that happened in the Second World War can easily change the subject and support hate-actions towards queer people˳
In the last week I saw at least 15 people who were complaining about the most hateful actions that parents committed towards their queer kids; actions which I can only describe as psychologically disturbed; children that has been abused in the most appalling ways, because they are queer˳ I am sorry, but I can’t explain such behavior as the result of a phobia; it is the typical result of a serious personality disorder and it needs to be cured˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?Homophobia-or-Anti-Homo-Personality-Disorder&id=8500817
