Psychology of sex - Total No. of Records in System :: 2032

HOMOSEXUALITYus to say that they may be lightly run. When an invert isprofoundly dissatisfied with his condition and keenlyanxious to become normal it is not easy to resist theattempt to render him normal. But it is not possible totake a sanguine view either o the prospects of success or"the results of success when it is achieved.There may still be ample room for treatment, even whenno direct attempt is made to suppress the inverted tendencyand the cheerful and easy-going view (which I haveseen advocated)isadopted of regarding homosexuality asmerely "a form of bad manners." The invert is, in a considerableproportion of cases, generally and sometimessexually, what used to be termed neurasthenic; in somecases he issexually hyperaesthetic with the irritable weaknesswhich commonly accompanies hyperaesthesia; he isoften sensitive and emotional, sometimes liable to panicsof apprehension or anxiety in connection with his abnormality.In such cases the ordinary treatment of the conditionis indicated, whether by sedatives, such as the bromides,or in some cases, tonics. Electricity, balneo-therapy,physical exercises, wholesome occupation, change of air,etc. all the ordinary methods of combating nervous exhaustionmay prove beneficial in dealing with forms ofsexual deviation. Many inverts are little worried by theexistence of their sexual anomaly so long as they are ingood health, so that it is on this ground alone highly necessaryto apply any special medical treatment that may berequired and to insist on the cultivation of hygiene. Theinversion will not thus be removed, but with intelligentcomprehension and sympathy the anxiety it causes may beallayed, its excesses may be restrained, and it may bebrought under rational self-control. This is in most casesall that is necessary, and in many all that is desirable.The question of marriage sometimes arises in the case[ 2 49]