First, Do no harm: Please sign the DSM Revision Petition.

The DSM Revision Petition is gathering signatures from individuals and organizations
calling on the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to adhere to empirical research
when revising the diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM).

Statements currently within the DSM Paraphilias criteria are contradicted by scientific
evidence therefore NCSF must conclude that the interpretation of the Paraphilias
criteria has been politically, not scientifically based. This politically motivated
interpretation subjects BDSM practitioners, fetishists and cross-dressers to bias,
discrimination and social sanctions without any scientific basis.

Petition:
"We, the undersigned, support the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) own
goal of making its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) a scientific document, based
on empirical research and devoid of cultural bias. A diagnosis of a mental disorder can
have a severe adverse impact on employment opportunities, child custody determinations,
an individual's well-being, and other areas of functioning. Therefore we urge the APA
to remove all diagnoses that are not based upon peer-reviewed, empirical research,
demonstrating distress or dysfunction, from the DSM. The APA specifically should not
promote current social norms or values as a basis for clinical judgments."

To sign, go to: www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DSMrevisionpetition
(You can make your signature anonymous on this secure petition site so it doesn't
appear on the Internet)

To find out more about the DSM and the Paraphilias section, read the NCSF & ITCR: The
Foundation for NCSF's "White Paper on the DSM Revision" at www.ncsfreedom.org

For more information, email: DSMrevisionpetition@yahoo.com Permalink to full story.