Mysteries of Mental Illness

The Wrong Body

Clip | 2m 5s  | Video has closed captioning.

In 1973, when the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, it did not help those like Mia Yamamoto, who question their gender identity. Mia spent most of her life being made to feel like she was 'mentally ill', even by therapists. The delisting of homosexuality exposed the fluid, even arbitrary nature of a diagnosis.