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British Turkish child psychologist Gocke Cansever tested twelve Turkish boys before and after [[circumcision]]. Cansever (1965) confirmed the conclusions of Anna Freud (1952) and reported:
''Anger'' is the second stage of grief[[Circumcised]] men are increasingly experiencing anger and rage regarding their harmful involuntary [[circumcision]].<ref name="kr1969garner2024">{{REFweb |url=https:/> /intactamerica.org/author/bryan-garner/ |title=The Circumcision Decision: Unpackaging Anger and Resentment |last=Garner |first=Bryan |init= |author-link= |publisher=Intact America |date=2024-08-26 |accessdate=2024-09-05}}</ref name="cc2022"/> '' Research done since the 1960's forward to the present day has elucidated the nature, functions, and purpose of the [[foreskin]]. Circumcised men are learning what they have lost from the Internet, so they are less able to maintain the ego defense of ''denial of loss'',<ref name="watson2017">{{REFjournal
[[Lindsay R. Watson|Watson]] & Golden (2017) recommend that [[Ronald Goldman|Goldmancircumcised]] recommend that men "embrace the anguish and try to feel it as strongly as they can." They also recommend non-surgical [[foreskin restoration]] "since it empowers the patient."<ref name="watson2017" />
* <youtube>v=3AulRgBt6ls&feature=youtu.be</youtube> === A Therapist on Men's Hidden Circumcision Grief === <youtube>tNCJ7AL_ThY</youtube><br>=== Gregory Becker voices a personal memoir on his circumcision experience ===<youtube>https://youtu.be/02K_76WjOds</youtube> === Men's mental health ===<youtube>3bxg5pLrbc</youtube>
* <youtube>tNCJ7AL_ThY</youtube>
→Videos: Add video.
Male [[circumcision]] is a surgical [[amputation]] of the [[foreskin]], which contains more than one-half of the erogenous epithelium of the [[penis]]. The [[amputation]] is most frequently carried out on infants and small boys who cannot and do not give consent for the loss of so much of their [[penis]]. There are many '''psychological issues of male circumcision''' that arise from the painful, traumatic, involuntary loss of the part of the [[penis ]] with the erogenous tissue that provides much sexual sensation.<ref name ="uberoi2022">{{REFjournal
|last=Uberoi
|first=
== Profound lack of understanding of psychological issues ==
There was little awareness of emotional and/or psychological issues when child [[circumcision]] was being promoted in the late 19th century and early 20th century. For example, [[Douglas Gairdner]] (1949) made no mention at all of [[pain]], [[trauma]] behavior changes, or psychological issues in his landmark 1949 paper.<ref name="fate1949">{{GairdnerDM 1949}}</ref> Intact America (2023) reported that [[intact]] males were shamed.<ref>{{REFweb |url=https://intactamerica.org/foreskin-phobia-intact-penis-shamed/ |title=Foreskin Phobia: How The Intact Penis Has Been Shamed |last=Anonymous |first= |init= |publisher= |date=2023-12-21 |accessdate=2023-12-31}}</ref>
==Increasing awareness==
[[Anna Freud]], daughter of [[Sigmund Freud]], and a pioneer child psychologist read Levy's paper. She wrote (1952):
<blockquote>
Ever since the discovery of the castration complex analysts have had ample opportunity in their therapeutic work to study the impact of surgical operations. on normal and abnormal development. By now it is common knowledge that surgical interference with the child's body may serve as the focal point for the activation, reactivation, grouping and rationalization of ideas of being attacked, overwhelmed and (or) castrated.<ref name="freud1952">{{REFjournal
|last=Freud
|first=Anna
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The results of the tests showed that [[circumcision]], performed around the phallic stage is perceived by the child as an act of aggression and castration. It has detrimental effects on the child's functioning and adaptation, particularly on his ego strength. By weakening the controlling and defensive mechanisms of the ego, and initiating regression, it loosens the previously hidden fears, anxieties, and instinctual impulses, and renders a feeling of reality to them. What is expressed following the operation is primitive, archaic and unsocialized in character. As a defensive control and protection against the surge of the instinctual forces coming from within and the threats coming from outside, the ego of the child seeks safety in total withdrawal, this isolates and insulates itself from disturbing stimuli.<ref name="cansever1965">{{REFjournal
Grimes (1978) also expressed concern, writing:
<blockquote>
In contrast to the sometimes dramatic somatic responses of the neonate to operation without anesthesia, the psychological consequences of this trauma are conjectural. Psychoanalyst Erik Erickson has described the first of eight stages of man as the development of basic trust versus basic mistrust. For the baby to be plucked from his bed, [[Circumstraint|strapped in a spread eagle position]], and doused with chilling antiseptic is perhaps consistent with other new-found discomforts of extra-uterine existence. The application of crushing clamps and [[excision]] of penile tissue, however, probably do little to engender a trusting, congenial, relationship with the infant's new surroundings.<ref name="grimes1978">{{REFjournal
|last=Grimes
|first=David A.
==Trauma of circumcision==
The [[trauma]] of [[circumcision]] has been little recognized and has been characterized as "the invisible elephant in the room". It is, however, very real and affects most [[circumcised]] men.<ref name="garrett2023-12-17">{{REFweb |url=https://intactamerica.org/circumcision-trauma/ |title=Circumcision Trauma: The Invisible Elephant in the Room |last=Garrett |first=Connor |init= |author-link=Connor Judson Garrett |publisher=Intact America |date=2023-12-17 |accessdate=2024-06-02}}</ref> [[Dan Bollinger | Bollinger]] & [[Georganne Chapin| Chapin ]] (1999) documented the extremely painful and traumatic nature of infant [[circumcision]].<ref name="bollinger2019">{{REFdocument
|title=Child Genital Cutting as an Adverse Childhood Experience
|trans-title=
|date=2019-08-01
|accessdate=2021-06-30
}}</ref> Ramos & [[Gregory J. Boyle | Boyle]] (2001) studied the psychological effects of [[circumcision]] ([[tuli]]) on Philippine boys. They reported that sixty-nine percent of traditionally [[circumcised]] boys and fifty-one percent of medically circumcised boys met the criteria for a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder ([[PTSD]]).<ref name="ramos-boyle2001">{{REFbook
|last=Ramos
|first=Samuel
}}</ref>
[[Anna Taddio | Taddio]] et al. (1995) (1997) studied the behavior of [[circumcised]] boys in comparison to the behavior of [[intact]] boys at the time of routine vaccination. Taddio et al. (1995) reported:
<blockquote>
Male circumcision is the most common neonatal surgical procedure. It causes intense pain and measurable changes in behaviour that last up to 1 day. We found that circumcision status was associated with increased infant pain response to routine vaccination at 4-6 months. [[Circumcised]] boys had significantly longer crying bouts and higher pain scores. That both outcome measures, pain index, and cry duration, were influenced by circumcision lends credibility to our observations. During the second (HIB) vaccination, circumcision status was more clearly associated with the observed pain response than after DPT. The DPT injection might have had a priming effect in [[circumcised]] infants which led them to exhibit even more pain after the HIB injection. The effects of memory and reinforcement on later nocioceptive experience in neonates are not known. Because memory of pain is believed to be important in subsequent pain perception, and the main structures for memory are functional in the neonatal period, it is conceivable that pain from circumcision may have long-lasting effects on pain response and/or perception.<ref name="taddio1995">{{TaddioA etal 1995}}</ref>
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Recognition of the effects of circumcision [[trauma]] is vital to the health and well-being of [[circumcised]] men.<ref name="garrett2023-12-17" />
===Feelings and behavior of circumcised men===
===Circumcised medical doctors===
Most [[Circumcised doctors| male doctors in the United States are men who were [[circumcised]] as infants]]. Consequently, despite being medical doctors they have no personal knowledge of or appreciation for the human [[foreskin]]. These men male doctors share the [[trauma]] and attitudes of other [[circumcised]] men and are just as likely to want to repeat the [[trauma]]. [[Eleanor LeBourdais| LeBourdais]] (1995) pointed out that the "age of the attending physician, sex and circumcision status" were important factors in determining the likelihood of a baby boy being [[circumcised]].<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=LeBourdais
|first=Eleanor
|date=2022-03-31
|accessdate=2023-07-29
}}</ref> [[Circumcised]] men historically have protected their feelings by ''denying that they have lost anything''. <ref>{{REFbook |last=Bigelow, Ph.D |first=Jim |init= |author-link=Jim Bigelow |year=1995 |title=The Joy of Uncircumcising |url= |work= |editor= |edition=Second Edition |volume= |chapter=Psychological factors related to infant circumcision. |scope= |page=92 |pages= |location=Aptos |publisher=Hourglass |ISBN=0-934061-22-X |quote= |accessdate=2023-08-13 |note=}}</ref> Trivialization of the loss is a frequent defense mechanism. Another is the production of fantasies about the alleged horrors of [[smegma]], [[Pheromone| aroma]], and [[Acroposthion| appearance]].
|last=Watson
|first=Lindsay R.
|DOI=
|accessdate=2019-12-14
}}</ref> so they increasingly responding with feelings of anxiety, [[Suicide| suicidal thoughts]], depression, rage, [[PTSD]] and grief.<ref name="watson2017"/> Anger'' is the second stage of grief.<ref name="kr1969"/> <ref name="cc2022"/>
Uberoi et al. {2022) collected the sentiments of [[circumcised]] men regarding their involuntary, unnecessary [[circumcision]].<ref name="uberoi2022 /> They published a supplement to their article on line in a 67-page Microsoft Word file with statements by 135 men. In many cases, resentment and anger is directed against the parents who failed to protect the [[physical integrity]] of a son.<ref>{{REFweb
|url=https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41443-022-00619-8/MediaObjects/41443_2022_619_MOESM1_ESM.docx
|title=Complete list of all "I" statements analyzed
}}</ref>
''[[Depression]]'' is the fourth stage of grief.<ref name="kr1969"/> <ref name="cc2022"/> Several cases of [[suicide]] have been reported.<ref name="lowbridge2019">{{REFnews
|title=My son killed himself after circumcision
|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-47292307
|DOI=10.1136/bmj.316.7137.1086
|accessdate=2019-12-10
}}</ref> ==Psychological value of foreskin restoration==Unfortunately, Watson & Golden (2017) report:
<blockquote>
We found that therapists were reluctant to accept that the grief was real, were unaware of foreskin functions, denied circumcision had physical or psychological sequelae and minimized patient grief using humor, cultural aesthetics, controversial
health benefits, sexism and an erroneous understanding of penile anatomy and sexual function. Male therapists were more likely to deny that circumcision is harmful and to be less empathetic than female therapists.<ref name="watson2017" />
</blockquote>
Surgical foreskin restoration has been reported as having beneficial emotional results for [[circumcised]] men.<ref name="penn1963">{{REFjournal
|last=Penn
|first=Jack
|init=P
|title=Penile Reform
|journal=British Journal of Plastic Surgery
|volume=16
|issue=
|pages=287-8
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/restoration/penn1/
|quote=The result was satisfactory physically and the patient was completely rehabilitated psychologically.
|pubmedID=14042759
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1016/S0007-1226(63)80123-X
|date=1963
|accessdate=2024-06-18
}}</ref> <ref name="greer1982">{{REFjournal
|last=Greer
|first=
|init=DM
|author-link=
|last2=Mohl
|first2=
|init2=PC
|author2-link=
|last3=Sheley
|first3=
|init3=KA
|author3-link=
|etal=no
|title=A Technique for Foreskin Reconstruction and Some Preliminary Results
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=The Journal of Sex Research
|location=
|date=1982-11
|volume=18
|issue=4
|pages=324-30
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/restoration/greer1/
|archived=
|quote=Every patient has reported the results of the operation to be pleasing and gratifying. Most have reported increased glanular sensitivity.
|accessdate=2024-06-13
}}</ref> <ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Goodwin
|first=
|init=WE
|author-link=
|etal=no
|title=Uncircumcision: a technique for plastic reconstruction of a prepuce after circumcision
|trans-title=
|language=
|journal=J Urol
|location=
|date=1990-11
|volume=144
|issue=5
|pages=1203-05
|url=https://www.cirp.org/library/restoration/goodwin1/
|archived=
|quote=The patient was delighted with the results.
|pubmedID=2231896
|pubmedCID=
|DOI=10.1016/s0022-5347(17)39693-3
|accessdate=2024-06-13
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
==Autism spectrum disorder==
[[Rosemary Romberg]] (2021) observed that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the [[United States]] occurs four times more frequently in boys than in girls.<ref name="romberg2021">{{REFbook
|last=Romberg
|first=Rosemary
|init=
|author-link=Rosemary Romberg
|year=2021
|title=Circumcision — The Painful Dilemma
|url=https://circumcisionthepainfuldilemma.wordpress.com/
|work=
|editor=[[Ulf Dunkel]]
|edition=Second Edition, Revised
|volume=
|chapter=A possible link between infant circumcision and autism
|scope=
|page=420
|pages=
|location=
|publisher=Kindle
|ISBN=23: 979-8683021252
|quote=
|accessdate=2023-08-31
|note=
}}</ref>
</blockquote>
After the medical community belatedly learned that infants actually feel [[pain]], Howard, Howard, & Weitzman (1994) tested the use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) for post-surgical pain following neonatal non-therapeutic circumcision.<ref name="howard1994">{{REFjournal
Morten & Simonsen (2015) associated neonatal non-therapeutic circumcision with autism spectrum disorder.<ref>{{REFjournal
|last=Frisch
|first=Morten
|init=M
|author-link=
|last2=Simonsen
|first2=Jacob
|init2=J
|author2-link=
==Alexithymia==
[[Dan Bollinger | Bollinger]] and [[Robert S. Van Howe|Van Howe]] (2011) associated [[Alexithemia| alexithymia]] with the [[trauma]] of [[circumcision]].<ref name="bollinger2011">{{REFjournal
|last=Bollinger
|first=Dan
|DOI=10.3149/jmh.1002.184
|accessdate=2019-12-12
}}</ref> Psychiatrists call this phenomenon alexthymia alexithymia — Greek for not having words for feelings.<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Van der Kolk
|first=Bessel
|accessdate=2023-07-16
|note=
}}</ref>[[Bessel van der Kolk| Van der Kolk ]] (2014) said, "People with alexithemia can get better only by learning to recognize the relations between their physical sensations and their emotions, much as colorblind people can only enter the world of color by learning
to distinguish and appreciate shades of gray."<ref>{{REFbook
|last=Van der Kolk
}}</ref>
Bollinger & [[Georganne Chapin | Chapin]] (2019) reported that [https://simplyhealth.today/16-common-triggers-of-adverse-childhood-experiences/?msclkid=a663823c1fa01a8515b9e0f09aaad3bd adverse childhood experiences], which includes [[circumcision]], is a cause of alexithemiaalexithymia.<ref name="bolinger2019">{{REFdocument
|title=Child genital cutting as an adverse childhood experience
|trans-title=
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Adamant father syndrome]]
* [[Association of male circumcision with homosexuality]]
* [[Circumcision coma]]
* [[Circumcision and violence]]
* [[Psychosexual Effects of Circumcision]]
* [[Psychiatrist Discusses the Lasting Trauma of Circumcision]]
* [[Posttraumatic Post-traumatic stress disorder]]
* [[Suicide]]
* [[Trauma]]
==VideoVideos ==
=== Voices of those affected De drabbades röst ===The following poignant video expresses the emotional pain that many men who were [[circumcised ]] in infancy feel. There is a short {{NSFW }} section:
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb