Robert Spitzer was an American psychiatrist who supported disease models of gender identity and expression. At the 2003 American Psychiatric Association conference, Spitzer described being trans as “a disorder.”
Spitzer was heavily involved in revising the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) throughout his career. He was one of the people who helped remove homosexuality as a mental disorder from the DSM in 1973. In 2001, he presented his claims that anti-gay conversion therapy works in a paper titled “Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians Change Their Sexual Orientation?” Despite a huge backlash, Spitzer’s paper was published in 2003 by Kenneth Zucker in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. In a 2012 interview, Spitzer said he asked Zucker to retract the study, and Zucker declined.
Background
Robert Leopold Spitzer was born May 22, 1932 in White Plains, New York. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cornell University in 1953 and his medical degree from New York University School of Medicine in 1957. He completed his psychiatric residency at New York State Psychiatric Institute in 1961 and graduated from Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research in 1966.
Benedict Carey wrote Spitzer’s 2012 mea culpa and 2015 obituary for the New York Times.
References
Spitzer RL (2008) Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders: Discussion of Questions for DSM-V. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality https://doi.org/10.1300/J056v17n03_06
“the author finds the arguments for eliminating the categories of GID and paraphilias from the DSM as weak at best.”
Carey, Benedict (May 18, 2012). Psychiatry Giant Sorry for Backing Gay ‘Cure.’ New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/19/health/dr-robert-l-spitzer-noted-psychiatrist-apologizes-for-study-on-gay-cure.html
Martin, Adam (May 18, 2012). ‘Gay Cure’ Researcher Robert Spitzer Is Trying to Do Right. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/gay-cure-researcher-robert-spitzer-trying-do-right/327934/
Dan Karasic, Jack Drescher (2014). Sexual and Gender Diagnoses of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM): A Reevaluation. Taylor & Francis ISBN 9781317954569
Carey, Benedict (December 26, 2015). Robert Spitzer, 83, Dies; Psychiatrist Set Rigorous Standards for Diagnosis. New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/us/robert-spitzer-psychiatrist-who-set-rigorous-standards-for-diagnosis-dies-at-83.html
Winters, Kelley (April 21, 2012). These Aren’t the Droids You’re Looking For: Gender Diversity, Scapegoating and Erasure in Medicine and Media GID Reform https://gidreform.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/these-arent-the-droids-youre-looking-for-gender-diversity-scapegoating-and-erasure-in-medicine-and-media/
Resources
Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Books
- Critical Issues in Psychiatric Diagnosis (with Donald F. Klein), Raven, 1978. ISBN 0-89004-213-6
- DSM III Casebook, American Psychiatric Publications, 1981. ISBN 0-89042-051-3
- Treatment of Mental Disorders (with James W. Jefferson), Oxford University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-19-503107-5
- Psychopathology, a Case Book (with Janet B. W. Williams and Andrew E. Skodol), McGraw-Hill, 1983. ISBN 0-07-060350-2
- DSM-III Case Book (Diagnostic), Cambridge University Press, 1985. ISBN 0-521-31530-1
- SCID-P, ‘An structured clinical interview for DSM diagnosis, case version’, 1986
- APA: Desk Reference to DSM-III R (Diagnostic), Cambridge University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-521-34693-2
- An Annotated Bibliography of DSM-III, 1987. ISBN 0-88048-257-5
- Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III Axis I Disorders, Research Version, Patient Edition (SCID-I/P), 1990. ISBN 0-88048-411-X
- DSM-IV Casebook: A Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 1994. ISBN 0-88048-675-9
- Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), 1997. ISBN 0-88048-931-6
- International Perspectives on DSM-III, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, American Psychiatric Association, 1998. ISBN 0-88048-017-3
- DSM-IV-TR Casebook: A Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, American Psychiatric Association, 2002. ISBN 1-58562-058-0
- Treatment Companion to the DSM-IV-TR Casebook, American Psychiatric Association, 2004. ISBN 1-58562-139-0
- DSM-IV-TR Casebook, Volume 2, American Psychiatric Association, 2006. ISBN 1-58562-219-2