Brief Answer: You are right about your diagnosis Detailed Answer: HI Thanks for using healthcare magic. I, Dr Abhishek Kapoor, would help you in this query. Pedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children of age around 11 to 13 year. A person who is diagnosed with pedophilia must be at least 16 years of age, but adolescents who are 16 years of age or older must be at least five years older than the prepubescent child before the attraction can be diagnosed as pedophilia. It is termed pedophilic disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and the manual defines it as a paraphilia in which adults or adolescents 16 years of age or older have intense and recurrent sexual urges towards and fantasies about prepubescent children that they have either acted on or which cause them distress or interpersonal difficulty. If you are thinking that you have above symptoms that mean you are a pedophile. Various treatments are available that are aimed at reducing or preventing the expression of pedophilic behavior, reducing the prevalence of child sexual abuse. Treatment of pedophilia often requires collaboration between law enforcement and health care professionals. A number of proposed treatment techniques for pedophilia have been developed, though the success rate of these therapies has been very low. In treatment, you can try CBT, behavioral intervention like satiation and aversion techniques, few drugs like medroxyprogesterone acetate, cyproterone acetate, leuprolide acetate to decrease sexual urge. Better to consult a psychiatrist and plan proper management. In case, you need further help, you can ask. Regards Dr. Abhishek Kapoor Psychiatrist

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Brief Answer: Pedophilia is possible at age of 12 Detailed Answer: HI Pedophiles are people erotically attracted to children younger than the age of puberty. The age isn't important, the only limit here is the development of the sexuality, so we can say from puberty up. The problem is, that if someone is attracted to older children, you can't really say if he is a pedophile because young people are normally attracted to people around their age. 12 years old attracted to 10 years old, is he or she a pedophile? That's a problem. I think mostly such people grow up and find to be attracted to adults. Sometimes they grow up and find they are still attracted to 10 years old. That's why the diagnostic criteria of pedophilia usually set some minimal age for the diagnosis, for example 16 years. However when someone 12 years old is only interested in children for example aged 4 - 8, it's quite clear he or she is a pedophile. Next, pedophiles are defined by who they are attracted to, not by their acts. Someone who inappropriately touches a child doesn't have to be a pedophile and someone who does not might be a pedophile. During adolescent or adult, number of people get attracted towards kids of younger age, but it also depends upon sexual orientation. If you say, sexually you are attracted towards opposite sex and still sometime, you get sexual thoughts for kids, in that case, it may be your underline liking towards kids and desire to do something with them. Though, you are hiding all these by doing masturbation and controlling your thoughts, that good, but if you want to kick it out of your life, then talk to opposite sex as much as possible. You can also take help of a psychologist. In case, you need further help, you can ask. Regards Dr. Abhishek Kapoor Psychiatrist

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