You might have heard of people having interest and sexual urges, arousal for their partner, opposite gender and same gender but what is it when they have sexual urges for children? Do you know about this psychological disorder called pedophilia?.
So, what is pedophilia? In this article, we will be explaining to you what pedophilia is, its signs or symptoms, what causes and how to treat pedophilia. It is more of a complex psychological issue and therefore, we will be elaborating on it in detail to help you understand it. So, let’s begin first with understanding what pedophilia is all about.
What Is Pedophilia?
When is comes to what is pedophilia, it is a psychological/ psychiatric disorder wherein a person is sexually attracted towards prepubescent children, that is, to children before their puberty. People with this disorder have sexual arousal upon seeing children of a particular age group, and at times, along with children, they also have sexual interest or attraction to adults. This disorder can be found in anyone, be it teenagers or adults, irrespective of gender, and there can be several causes for the same. To understand it completely we will next be moving to the symptoms of pedophilia to help you understand it more clearly.
Signs Of Pedophilia
Many people may have the instinct to paedophilia but do not openly speak of it, which may become a problem for children as they are constantly under threat of sexual abuse. Therefore, here we will list the symptoms of pedophilia to help you recognise it:
1. Having Recurring Sexual Arousal For Children
One of the earliest signs of pedophilia is that the person has recurring arousal for children. This is also termed paraphilia, which means having recurring strong sexual urges for children of prepubescent age. People suffering from pedophilia have sexual urges when they see children and want to dominate or fulfill their sexual desires and fantasies with them. Usually the symptoms of pedophilia revolve around children but it may also extend to adults and you may experience sexual arousal, fantasies, desires and urges for both of them. It normally begins with feeling attracted and can grow up to the point that you want to fulfill your desire.
2. Being Excessively Involved In Child Pornography
Another symptom of being a pedophile is that you are excessively involved and engrossed in watching child pornography. It is also one of the signs you are a sex addict. It means that you can’t stop yourself from watching child pornography as you gain pleasure and have the feeling of quick arousal on watching the child pornography. This is what is pedophilia as well. When you are unable to fulfill your desires of having sexual involvement with children then you find yourself gaining satisfaction by watching child pornography. It can grow up to the level that you can’t resist yourself from watching it again and again, even at crucial moments.
3. Feeling Of Guilt, Shame And Denial
Along with the arousal or desires, recurring sexual urges, and intensive watching of child pornography, a pedophile also has feelings of shame, guilt and denial. A pedophile never accepts his disorder as to being attracted to children sexually and this stage of denial always stays with them. Further, being sexually attracted to children comes with the feeling of guilt and shame due to psychological stress and societal pressure. In such cases, this anxiety can cause serious damage, and hence, taking anxiety counseling is advised along with other treatment options. This is one of the signs of pedophilia, which often does not surface but shows from time to time.
4. Suffering From Sexual Frustration And Psychosocial Impairment
Among the other different signs of pedophilia one of the signs is that people who are pedophile suffers from sexual frustration and psychological impairment. Because pedophiles are unable to express their sexual urges as they feel attracted towards children, their sexual frustration grows because of their inability to express it. They have psychological impairment because they have difficulty in managing their emotions, behaviour and cognition as pedophilia might be the result of psychological disturbance. So, it is one of the symptoms of pedophilia wherein the person is unable to control their behaviour when they see children who are of prepubescent age.
Causes Of Pedophilia
Now that we know the symptoms of the same we will head to what leads to pedophilia. Just like there can be many reasons for any psychological disorders, there are certain reasons behind a person getting sexually attracted to children; however, it is just speculation, and the causes are traced following the long symptoms.
1. It May Run In The Family Or Genes
One of the causes of pedophilia is that it may be in your genes. Just like many disorders and diseases passed on from the family to the children, this psychological disorder can also affect the children and run in the family. It may happen that you and your ancestors have a previous history of psychological disorder like paedophilia, and this is what leads to pedophilia in you. There is no treatment for paedophilia coming genetically. However, one can take necessary steps to control it so that they do not indulge in activities that can harm them and others near them. So, it is one of the possible causes of pedophilia.
2. Past Experience Or Childhood Trauma
Another reason that leads to paedophilia can be experiences or childhood trauma. Many times a child sees their parents abusing them or other children, and it gets fixed in their minds and makes them do the same when they grow old or become adults. Haven’t you heard that children do what they see their parents or elders do? So, the same repeats here. Or it may happen that the child has some trauma, like losing their childhood love, which may make them like children of that particular age due to trauma. These can be some of the fast experiences that can lead to what is paedophilia and make people pedophile.
3. Due To Certain Psychological Development Of The Child
Among the few other causes of paedophilia, one of the causes of the same is the psychological development of the child. Many times, because the children do not have proper education or psychological development well and are taught to use cognition and control their behavior and knowledge about their body, they often end up taking up certain psychological disorders just like paedophilia. This is the reason why is sex education important because it teaches the children to channel their emotions and desires and learn what is right and what is not so that they do not develop any issues, especially with sex psychology.
4. Due To Hormonal Imbalance
Last but not least, one of the causes of pedophilia is due to hormonal imbalance. Usually it is rare that hormonal imbalance leads to pedophilia; however, it is one of the reasons why many people suffer from pedophilia. Its increase in androgen can be one of the reasons for the sexual urges pedophiles go through when they encounter children of a certain age group. This is what leads to pedophilia. It is usually psychological disturbance that is the main reason for this psychological disorder but it may happen that hormonal disbalance can be accompanying symptoms along with it. So, now let’s move to its treatment as we are aware of its causes.
Treatment Of Pedophilia
The causes pedophilia is very complex since it is related to psychology of a person and even genetics. So it becomes important that necessary steps should be taken to control the behavior and possibly cure it. So now we will removing forward to know how to treat pedophilia. Some of the treatment methods are:
1. Going For Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
One of the treatment for pedophilia is cognitive behavioral therapy. Do you know what is cognitive behavioral therapy? Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the therapy which is suggested for people who are suffering from pedophilia. It usually works on changing the thinking pattern of the person and helping them find new methods and ways to behave and exercise certain emotions. This treatment helps the people who are suffering from pedophilia to channel the sexual desires and change the sexual patterns which are mostly directed towards children. With the help of cognitive behavioral therapy pedophiles can reduce their sexual urges and learn how to exercise their emotions differently.
2. Seeking Help From Support Groups
Another treatment method available for pedophiles is seeking help from support groups or going for sex counseling. Along with taking cognitive behavioral therapy, people suffering from paedophiliacs seek assistance from support groups where people share their experiences and how they try to overcome them. Listening to them will help them to know that they are not alone, and many people are trying to work on their issues, along with helping them find new ways of how to treat paedophilia, especially in case of emergency when they want to control their sexual urges. It also helped them overcome the past mass, which might be one of the reasons they grew into pedophiles.
3. Psychoanalytic Therapy Can Be Helpful
Among the other treatments for pedophilia, one of the treatments also suggested, just like cognitive behavioral therapy, is psychoanalytic therapy. Since paedophilia can emerge from psychological disturbance and also a psychological disorder, going for psychoanalytic therapy will help them work on the cognitive behavior patterns and reduce the intensity of their sexual desires gradually. This is also one of the best ways to stop sex addiction. It is somewhat similar to cognitive behavioral therapy but they have certain differences between them. At times, both treatment methods can be suggested for treatment, but usually, CBT is used.
4. Make Sure You Take Medicines On Time
Just knowing about what is pedophilia and taking treatment is not enough; you must stick to what is told to you when the treatment begins. Being consistent in your therapy sessions and taking the medicines prescribed, like anti-depressants, will help you manage your emotions and slowly recover from your disorder, and this is how to control sexual urges in public places. You must make sure that you take the prescribed medicines on time without skipping them and be in regular touch with your doctor even after you think that you have recovered because this process may take a long time since it is a psychological issue.
Conclusion
As we have reached the conclusion of the article titled what is pedophilia and its treatment. We would also like to enlighten you that is important that you recognise the behaviour patterns of people around your children so that you know how to protect your child from sexual abuse because in certain cases pedophiles are not aware of their behaviour and may act rationally which can lead to sexual abuse of your child therefore you should make sure your child speak to you about everything so that they don’t end up being abused. Following the treatment for pedophilia will help the pedophile to recover from their disorder and gradually work on their emotions and urges.
FAQ’S
1. Can Pedophilia Be Cured Permanently?
There is no proof or evidence that pedophilia cannot be cured permanently, but there is no proof that it has been cured completely. Going through treatment methods like CBT and psychoanalytic therapy can help you reduce the symptoms a lot and even completely treat the disorder.
2. How Can I Protect My Children From A Pedophilic Person?
To protect your children from pedophilic people who can, at any point, harm and sexually abuse your children, it is important that you recognize the signs and symptoms of the pedophile and keep your children away from them as it is the only option available and make sure they share everything with you.
3. What Is the Difference Between Hebephilia, Ephebophilia And Pedophilia?
There is a minor difference between hebephilia, ephebophilia and pedophilia. Hebephilia refers to sexual attraction to children who are of the age group 11 to 14, while ephebophilia refers to being sexually attracted to children who are of each group 15 to 16, and pedophilia is about having sexual attraction to children who are of pre puberty age.
4. How To Whether My Pedophilia Is Improving Or Not?
If you are taking treatment and counseling sessions and want to know whether your pedophilia is improving or not then one of the things that you must notice is whether your intensity of sexual urge towards children is decreasing or not. If you feel a change in your behavioral pattern and how you see children towards positivity then the treatment is working but it may take time.
5. Is It Possible For People Sexually Attracted To Children To Be Attracted To Adults?
Yes, it is possible to feel sexually attracted to both children and adults at the same time, and it is also termed as pedophilia. Many people want to fulfill the sexual or just both with children and adults. In such cases, it becomes essential to go for treatment and have regular consultations with your counselor.
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