There was a post about pedophilia OCD recently that understandably upset many community members. Let's use this as an opportunity to educate ourselves. First, I'm going to talk about intrusive thoughts in general, and then POCD specifically. I'll end with some links with more detailed information. To ensure that the conflict on the board fizzles out instead of this post fueling the flames, commenting on this post will be turned off. Let’s talk intrusive thoughts for a minute... a big misconception is that people with ocd are likely to act on an intrusive thought, like having sex with a child, harming themselves, or running over a pedestrian. If the thought is OCD though, they are less likely to do that thing compared to anyone else. The two people in my drawing could have a dream with the exact same plot, a clown coming to their birthday party, but for one person it is a nightmare and another it is a fantasy. And we have no problem telling the difference because their emotional responses are totally different. People with intrusive thoughts as part of OCD experience them like nightmares that they hate and want to get rid of at all costs, not fantasies that give them pleasure to think about. In pedophilia OCD, a person has unwanted, upsetting thoughts about sexual interactions with children. These are like nightmares. For a someone with actual pedophilia, thoughts about sex with children are fantasies. People with pocd engage in compulsions, avoidance, and reassurance seeking in response to their obsessions that interferes with their functioning. Recover from POCD is possible. Exposure and Response Prevention is still the gold standard treatment. The aim of therapy is not to get rid of thoughts, it's to reduce the negative emotional response to them and to improve functioning by reducing compulsions, avoidance, and reassurance seeking. Note: reducing emotional discomfort does not mean making the thoughts enjoyable. It means making them boring- neither pleasant or unpleasant. Here is a link to a longer article about POCD: https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/am-i-a-monster-an-overview-of-common-features-typical-course-shame-and-treatment-of-pedophilia-ocd-pocd/ And a link to a video about POCD by NOCD advocate Chrissie Hodges: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cDCn93bP8ks