Is Biology Destiny After All?

Three Clinical Conundrums: Homosexuality, Alcoholism, and Obesity

Dr. Magid, 600 West 111th Street, 11D, NewYork, NY 10025.

Recent announcements about the discovery of a biological/genetic basis for homosexuality compel psychodynamically oriented therapists to reassess once again their understanding of mind/body relations. By comparing the claims made in regard to homosexuality, where a biological basis is pronounced evidence that this orientation is natural, with the claims of alcoholism researchers, where biological differences are cited as evidence of an underlying disease, we begin to see how the metaphorical use of biology often determines the use to which research findings are put. Recent anti-diet approaches to obesity and binge eating further illustrate the limits of the dominant disease/addiction metaphors that have hitherto been used to treat these problems.