For this assignment, please listen to the *entire* podcast “81 Words” linked to this week’s content. You can also click on a link to the transcript (the link can be found on the podcast main page) if you want to follow along or need to go back to a certain point in the podcast. Then respond to the following questions, making sure to include details from the podcast to support your responses:

1. How does this story illustrate why it matters who is on the various Psychiatric committees that determine what mental disorders are included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM)?

2. What can we learn about how biases can enter into theoretical approaches to the causes, consequences, and treatments of mental disorders from this story?

3. What did you learn about how views on homosexuality changed over the course of the last century?

4. What impact might psychiatric labels have on societal views and treatment of people with mental disorders, on the clinicians directly treating these individuals, and on the individuals living with these labels? Give some examples from the podcast.

5. How did the scientific work by Evelyn Hooker and Alfred Kinsey contribute to changing views on homosexuality?

6. What other combination of forces/people contributed to the 81 words being removed from the DSM? Pick out and describe some of the major players in the narrative.

7. What are your reactions to this podcast? What do you find surprising or particularly interesting about this story? How do you think this may relate to what we will be studying for the rest of the semester in this class?

***The Podcast is the only source that can be used***

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/204/transcript