It might be illogical to mention "psychiatry" and "psychology" when talking about "homosexuality". Psychiatry is one of the medical fields that deal with health and disease whereas homosexuality is a social, political and historical issue that has nothing to do with "health". The fact remains that across the years, there has been a lot of confusion about the above relationship and for that reason only it is worth talking about this issue.

In our daily language, the use of certain terms reflects the confusion that prevails among us. "Good" and "bad", "good" and "evil", "healthy" and "sick" have become interchangeable in many circumstances. Common sense dictates that "healthy" and "sick" should be things that are determined by the "medical profession" (for the most) but "good" and "bad" should be determined by religion, the constitution, culture, history and many other factors.

The relationship between disease, health and morality is a complicated one. Some diseases have been laden with negative social judgment/perception like alcoholism and cancer and other diseases have been linked to positive and empathic reactions from the society like diabetes or high blood pressure. In other words, even though all "diseases" share common genetics, pathological and anatomical roots for their explanation; people treat them in many different ways.

Historically, some people argue that the medical profession has played a role that was beyond its "job description". Fields like psychiatry have permitted themselves to act as "social" and "moral" judges as opposed to a more professional and evidence based approach to disease and health. The biased and distorted view of the medical profession and the medical professionals by the people added to this problem. It is not uncommon to find people in a society like Lebanon placing too much power in the hands of physicians and treating them as "gods" rather than a "service provider".

In the Lebanese language, we use the word "hakim" (the "wise one") to refer to a "physician". This is not a coincidence. However, it is a dangerous habit that costs the society to give physicians a much greater power than the one they actually deserve or earn.
In the United States and Europe, there has been an increasing trend for "patients" to shift more into "consumers" and "doctors" to "service providers" and "medicine" to "evidence based medicine" (1). This change has not been mirrored by a similar shift in the Lebanese society.

Why should we follow the studies conducted in the USA and Europe?
In Lebanon, we have imported most of our medical knowledge from two major sources: France/Europe and the United States. It is well known that the two major medical schools in Lebanon: The American University of Beirut and Saint Joseph University use the English and the French languages respectively to teach their students.

In Lebanon, a physician is considered "better" if he/she was a graduate of and American or European training center. They are also considered "better" if they follow the most current advances in knowledge and research and the standard of care that occur in the USA and Europe.

In the past, when homosexuality was looked upon as a mental illness in the "West", we in Lebanon adopted that concept. Now that the medical system in the "West" does not look at homosexuality as a disease anymore, there is no reason why we - in Lebanon - should not update our understanding as well. In fact, some Lebanese psychoanalysts were vocal in the media in denying misconceived perceptions surrounding homosexuality.

References:
1- Aaron Lazare,MD; Sherman Eisebthal, PhD; Linda Wasserman,PhD. 1975. The Customer Approach to Patienthood. Archives of General Psychiatry . Vol 32. Pp553-558