Homosexual Panic

Homosexual panic, also known as gay panic or Kempf’s disease, is characterized by anxiety due to experiencing same sex attraction. The symptoms include delusions of persecution, hallucinations, nausea, dizziness, feeling helpless, social withdrawal, and suicidal ideation. It should be noted that patients do not act aggressively towards homosexuals as they blame themselves for having homosexual cravings and feel severely inferior.

This is generally caused by spending a lot of time with individuals of the same sex as this is associated with being in segregated environments such as prisons, asylums, military camps, and monasteries. This psychiatric condition is attributed to Edward J. Kempf who first described it in 1920. This is no longer included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).