I looked at a picture of someone who was 14 and I found her attractive. I’m 19. Why would I find her attractive? Is it possible I think she looked older or am I just attracted to young kids?
OCD will spark a lot of “what ifs”. It’s possible that your perceived “attraction” was triggered by anxiety and hyper-vigilance. It’s possible that it was a true legitimate attraction. It’s possible you thought she looked older. The question is: what are your values? Your feelings and/or desires may differ from your values, but which will you be a slave to? It sounds like the thought of being attracted to young kids disturbs you. That’s a great thing. It means you have conscience and a set of values. Whether you found a kid attractive or not is not relevant. Your thought, whatever it truly was, doesn’t need to translate into a wrong action. And wrong thoughts don’t need to be dwelled on. Establish your values, recognize that your thoughts will stray from them from time to time, and remind yourself that you still have a choice whether to dwell on the thought and act on it or not. You are still in control and not too far gone
@Sway_04 I know I’m still in control, I’m not worried about that. I’m just obsessing over the fact that I could actually have this attraction to begin with.
I totally get your concern, but personally I think finding someone attractive is different from being attracted to them. So, realistically if you did find her attractive there's a good chance that it means nothing.
“3) WHAT ARE COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS SURROUNDING POCD? Persons with POCD have a misconception that any person under the age of 18 should never be seen in a sexual way. And so they become very preoccupied with the morality or legality of finding a person below the age of 18 in any way attractive or sexual. And obviously children can be seen as sexual, there is the show toddler’s and tiaras were parents dress up 8 year olds in ways that are very provocative, teenage girls can dress in a very provocative way, so finding these children to be sexual in any way for people with OCD generates a tremendous guilt response or distress that something unhealthy or unusual is happening.”
@Anna,hi! I struggle with finding a cut off for what is acceptable. I know I can find people under 18 attractive sometimes because they made be developed similarly to people over 18, and I’m only 19 myself. But what is the cutoff to where any amount of attraction is not considered normal at all. I think I know I’m not attracted to pre pubescent kids but what about that transitional stage where they are pre pubescent but not fully developed either, but somewhere in the middle? This is where I start obsessing and freaking out and I don’t know if I’m normal or not.
I got this information from this article: https://www.madeofmillions.com/articles/talking-pedophilia-ocd-dr-steven-phillipson
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