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POCD is a type of OCD that can be anything from annoying to devastating for those who take information technology. Read on to learn about this condition and the recommended treatment for POCD.

Last updated: March 5, 2022

What is POCD?

Pedophilic obsessive-compulsive disorder (POCD) is an informal name for OCD when the master symptom is pedophilic obsessions. Information technology is a sub-type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

POCD is sometimes considered a version of "pure O" OCD or purely obsessive OCD. OCD usually involves obsessions and compulsions. The "pure O" label is used for the rare patients who do not appear to have whatever compulsions. (Delight notation: Research shows that someone with obsessions but without visible compulsions is probable to accept unobservable or mental compulsions. So, the "pure O" concept is probably a myth.)

POCD frequently involves compulsions. These can exist inward, outward, or both.

What Are Pedophilic Obsessions?

An obsession is a thought, image, or impulse that is ordinarily repeated, unwanted, and/or inappropriate. Obsessions cause pregnant anxiety when they occur.

Pedophilic obsessions are repeated thoughts, images or impulses related to concerns nigh beingness a pedophile. Here are examples of obsessive thoughts, images, and impulses that an adult might encounter if they were worried almost being a pedophile:

A pedophilic obsessive thought might be, What if I'm attracted to that twelve-year-old child?

A pedophilic obsessive prototype might exist imagining that you are engaging in a sexual action with a twelve-twelvemonth-old child.

A pedophilic obsessive impulse might be experiencing an urge to perform an inappropriate or sexual action with a twelve-year-old child.

These obsessions tin can be almost children who are familiar or not; family unit members, friends, strangers, or fifty-fifty 1's own children may be the foci of POCD obsessions.

As described above, these obsessions occur repeatedly and are unwanted. Typically, they have a terrifying event on the person with POCD because they suspect that having these thoughts, images, or impulses means they are a pedophile.

How Mutual Is POCD?

One of the largest and about comprehensive research efforts ever made to mensurate the prevalence of weather like OCD was a study chosen the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. It assessed thousands of people. The study found that over a quarter of Americans have obsessions or compulsions at some point in their lives. They also plant that two.iii% of Americans accept OCD during their lifetime and, at whatever given time, about i.2% of Americans live with OCD. This means that, right now, around 4 million Americans have OCD!

The written report referenced above did not specifically measure how common POCD was considering POCD is non an official psychiatric diagnosis. However, the written report gives us some helpful clues nearly how frequently POCD occurs in the American population.

There are several categories of obsessions. These include, only are non express to, perfectionism, sex and sexuality, religion, contagion, losing control, and harming others. POCD involves a sub-type of sexual practice and sexuality obsessions.

Although research doesn't give u.s. exact figures, it is reasonable to surmise that less than ten% of people presenting for OCD treatment take POCD.

What's It Like to Have POCD?

People with POCD oftentimes describe their obsessions every bit demoralizing. They endure from a lot of shame and doubt, and may feel isolated.

Those who have POCD usually do non confide in loved ones. This is because when they practise, they are often met with kind reassurance, such as, "Oh, you lot've got goose egg to worry well-nigh. I'm sure yous're non one of those people. Please don't stress about that."

Sometimes this feels helpful, merely but for a short while. Other times, responses like this experience and so disconnected from ane'south anxiety and concern that they feel incommunicable to believe. This leaves the POCD sufferer feeling misunderstood and ashamed.

Uncertainty Abstention

The engine that drives POCD is a deficit in tolerating uncertainty. This experience drives a sequence of events that creates significant anxiety.

Here'south a typical instance of how it works for a person living with POCD:

You see a cute kid on a TV show.
You think to yourself: Am I sexually attracted to that kid?
Then — despite the fact that all your previous romantic and sexual relationships have been with age-appropriate partners — you feel terror accompanied by the suspicion, I think perchance I am attracted to that kid!

What comes side by side is often one of four things, none of which are ultimately helpful.

Unhelpful POCD Coping Efforts

Distraction

Either out of calm strategizing or outright panic, someone with POCD may determine to focus their attending on something totally unrelated to the obsessive idea, paradigm or impulse. They do this in the hopes of being productive with their time — or of just escaping the obsession. This often works in the brusk term, simply non in the long term.

Successful Attainment of Reassurance

Seeking reassurance — which is besides a compulsion — is perhaps the most popular strategy to calm the anxiety of those with pedophilic obsessions. POCD sufferers who notice themselves obsessing are very tempted to find "proof" that they are not a pedophile. The means people practice this vary widely.

Here are some examples:

Explicitly asking for a loved ane's opinion ("I'm probably not a pedophile, right?").
Laying a reassurance "trap" when talking to a loved 1 ("I wasn't existence weird at our 6 twelvemonth old cousin's altogether political party last weekend — was I?").
Looking at children or images of children to approximate i'south reaction / allure toward them.
Looking at adults or images of adults to gauge one'due south reaction / attraction toward them.
Masturbating while imagining children / adults to gauge one'due south level of arousal. (See also our separate page on sexual arousal and POCD.)
Seeking / having sex with adults to judge i's attraction toward them.
Researching pedophilia on the net.

Unsuccessful Effort to Reach Reassurance

The strategies listed above may or may not outcome in achieving reassurance. Looking at an bonny adult of one's preferred gender may not produce a feeling of attraction. Internet research on pedophilia may non yield comforting data. When this happens, the person with POCD often feels even more distress.

Typically, this leads to more reassurance seeking behaviors. The POCD sufferer might think, Well, I didn't feel attracted to that woman, but I'll find another 1. This often spirals and leaves them feeling even more despair and shame than ever. Low oft results if this pattern is frequently repeated.

Abstention Behaviors

In addition to the compulsive ways that people with POCD attempt to seek reassurance, they may also take steps to ensure that they do not sexually abuse or inappropriately touch children. These are called "abstention behaviors" and could include measures similar the following:

Ensuring one is never alone in a room with a kid, including family members.
Finding excuses to non attend parties for children, even if they're marking important milestones.
Intentionally arriving late — after children are probable to be sleeping — to family gatherings.
Fugitive normal concrete contact with children who are relatives or children of friends (e.g. lap sitting, hand belongings, hugging, etc.).
Crossing the street or maximizing concrete altitude on the sidewalk to avert an approaching kid.
Taking a seat unnecessarily far abroad from a child on a bus or train.

An Addiction — to Reassurance

The reduction of feet that POCD sufferers feel when they gain reassurance is powerful. Equally with almost addictions, getting your "fix" only makes y'all more probable to seek it out again afterwards. (This happens due to a phenomenon called negative reinforcement.) With POCD, this release combines with the apple-polishing horror one faces at the thought of being a pedophile and creates a supercharged obsession-compulsion cycle.

For example, if someone has an obsession about being attracted to a kid and so achieves reassurance by remembering they recently had enjoyable sex with their developed partner, they feel better. This relief is seductive and causes them to want more than; but the but way to get more is to find some other obsession. So, then they may think: What if I really am attracted to children, and my relationship with my partner is only a manifestation of my deprival?! Thoughts like this are ofttimes followed by another effort at attaining reassurance, and the cycle continues.

People oftentimes find in that location are no like shooting fish in a barrel off-ramps from this POCD highway.

"Despairing POCD"

Some people with POCD take been and so victimized by the condition that the obsessive thoughts no longer experience similar new and startling possibilities — they just feel similar the truth. I call this "despairing POCD."

People with this kind of POCD avoid being around children, not because they're afraid that they might exist a pedophile, but because they're confident they are one. The last thing they want is to endanger children.

Handling for "despairing OCD" with exposure and response prevention (described below) can be constructive. Despite the hopelessness this condition entails, various forms of cognitive-behavioral therapy can be stiff tools to aid people with this dispiriting condition.

POCD Treatment

The most effective treatment for POCD is exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP). ERP is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy typically delivered once a week for several months. During this therapy, patients learn about OCD, how OCD works in full general, and how it works for them in particular. Patients acquire to identify their obsessions and compulsions and gain critical strategies to handle these symptoms when they happen. Eventually, patients receive preparation in exposure exercises. Exposures are means to practice improving tolerance for the unpleasant emotional states that precede a compulsion.

By improving your tolerance for these feelings, yous hone your ability to refrain from compulsions. This is true for either observable (behavioral) compulsions or for invisible (mental) compulsions. In then doing, you weaken the OCD gradually over the form of therapy.

What'southward the Prognosis for POCD?

As mentioned, ERP is the treatment of choice for POCD. Studies typically show ERP for OCD to produce meaningful improvement in 2-thirds of patients who receive it. One in iii recovers completely.

The two near commonly used medications to treat OCD are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and clomipramine (Anafranil). Research suggests that although these medications can assist people with OCD, neither add benefit beyond ERP alone. At this fourth dimension, in that location is no reason to believe that POCD would respond differently to the various forms of OCD handling.

Advice for Those with POCD

If you lot suffer from POCD information technology might seem daunting that only 2 thirds of people typically answer well to ERP therapy. It is helpful to keep the following points in mind:

Many of the people who do not benefit from ERP practise non complete the homework exercises that are assigned by their therapist as role of their POCD treatment. Others drib out of treatment. If you don't follow the therapist's recommendations — or if you lot end going to therapy — in that location is niggling reason to believe you lot will improve. Then, this part is under your control!
If you don't ameliorate from ERP, yous can try medication handling.
Whether or non you have medication, you tin can e'er try ERP once more in the hereafter. It is possible that, fifty-fifty if you do not benefit from the therapy initially, y'all may do good from it afterward on.

POCD is a treatable disorder, just as OCD is. If you suffer from POCD and are looking for help, please contact usa using the blueish "schedule an appointment" push below. We are happy to work with you or assist y'all notice someone local who can help.

Frequently asked Questions about POCD

What Causes POCD?

Because POCD is a subtype of OCD, POCD is likely caused by the same as the same factors that cause other types of OCD. These include a combination of environmental, genetic, and neurochemical factors.

How Practice I Know Whether I Take POCD or Am a Pedophile?

A burning want to know the answer to this question is characteristic of those who suffer with POCD. Please consider consulting with a therapist who specializes in treating obsessive compulsive disorders.

Does POCD Ever Go Away?

POCD tin get amend or worse on its own; it can also shift into another grade of OCD. Exposure and response prevention therapy and some medications have been shown to exist effective for OCD; in that location is little reason to believe POCD is whatever different.

Now It's Your Plough

Let us know nigh your experience in the comments below. If you have questions this page did not address, please mention them and nosotros will try to accost them equally the page gets updated over time.

Please contact u.s.a. if nosotros tin assist you in your efforts to find therapy for POCD here in New York. Our CBT therapists are doctoral-level psychologists. Nosotros also have student therapists who offer reduced-fee services. Our offices are in midtown Manhattan, merely nosotros offer teletherapy services to people elsewhere in New York State, New Jersey, and Florida. If you're looking for therapy for POCD in some other part of the land or world, please contact u.s.a. — we are happy to assist!

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Source: https://www.manhattancbt.com/pocd/