Pathologizing Mental Health w/o considering External Stressors is abhorrent.

Where some extremists on the right believe transgender Americans should. Are you one of those who believe that?

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By: Cassandra Williamson

28 July 2025

Hardy, Pike County, KY

My question to Gemini AI:

What field of psychology believes only in pathologizing every mental health issue? That believes that minority stress and social stress are not real, and that transgender people are not real but should institutionalized?

Gemini's Answer:

To be clear, no single, recognized, and legitimate field of psychology today holds all of the beliefs you've described. The views you outlined represent a collection of historical perspectives, extreme ideologies, and scientifically discredited ideas rather than a coherent, modern psychological discipline.

Let's break down the different components of your question to understand where these ideas originate.

1. The Belief in Only Pathologizing Mental Health Issues

This idea is most closely related to an extreme and outdated version of the Medical Model or Biological Model of Psychiatry.

• Core Idea: This model views mental health conditions as diseases or illnesses with biological causes, such as genetics, neurochemical imbalances, or brain abnormalities. Its primary focus is on diagnosis, classification (using manuals like the DSM−5), and treatment, often with medication.

• The Problem with the "Only" part: While the biological model is a crucial part of modern mental health, very few practitioners believe it is the only valid perspective. The dominant framework today is the biopsychosocial model, which recognizes that mental health is a complex interplay of biological factors (genetics, brain chemistry), psychological factors (trauma, coping skills, beliefs), and social factors (poverty, discrimination, family support). A field that only pathologizes would be ignoring decades of research on psychological and social contributors to well-being.

2. The Belief That Minority and Social Stress Are Not Real

The rejection of social and minority stress is in direct opposition to entire fields of psychology and vast amounts of evidence.

• Fields that Study Social Stress: Social Psychology, Community Psychology, and Multicultural Psychology are built on the premise that social environments, power structures, and cultural contexts profoundly impact mental health.

• Minority Stress Model: This is a well-established and heavily researched framework explaining that individuals from stigmatized minority groups (e.g., racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals) face unique stressors related to prejudice and discrimination, which contribute to higher rates of mental and physical health problems.

• Where Rejection Comes From: The belief that these stressors "are not real" does not come from any field of psychology. Instead, it is an ideological stance that denies the impact of systemic social problems, often rooted in political or social conservatism that favors individualistic explanations for all outcomes.

3. The Belief That Transgender People Are Not Real and Should Be Institutionalized

This is a harmful, unethical, and scientifically unsupported view that reflects historical, not contemporary, approaches to gender identity.

• Historical Context: In the mid-20th century, non-conformity to gender and sexual norms was heavily pathologized. Treatments often involved institutionalization, electroshock therapy, and conversion therapy, all of which are now considered profoundly unethical and harmful.

• Modern Consensus: Every major medical and psychological organization in the United States and much of the world affirms that being transgender is a part of the natural spectrum of human identity. These organizations include:

  • The American Psychological Association (APA)

  • The American Medical Association (AMA)

  • The American Psychiatric Association

• Shift in Diagnosis: The diagnostic manual (DSM−5) has evolved to reflect this. The diagnosis is not for being transgender, but for Gender Dysphoria, which is the clinically significant distress a person may feel when their gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth. The goal of treatment is to alleviate this distress, typically through gender-affirming care, not to "cure" the identity.

• Source of This Belief: The view that transgender people "are not real" is an ideological belief, not a scientific or psychological one. The call for institutionalization is a remnant of a discredited and harmful period in medical history.

In summary, you are describing a viewpoint that combines an extreme biological reductionism with a rejection of social science and adherence to outdated, harmful views on gender. This does not represent any field of modern psychology. Instead, it is a collection of beliefs that are fundamentally at odds with the scientific and ethical consensus of contemporary mental health practice.