veritasluxmea Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Not All Pedophiles Have Mental Disorder In a move toward destigmatizing pedophilia, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in its updated Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), distinguishes between pedophiles who desire sex with children, and those who act on those desires. The former group -- those who want to have sex with children but whose desires are not distressing or harmful to themselves or others -- is no longer classified as having a psychiatric condition in the updated DSM. "The difference [from the last edition of the DSM] is, you're not automatically saying that as soon as someone has a marked, unusual erotic interest that they have a mental disorder," said Ray Blanchard, who cowrote the chapter on sexual disorders in the new DSM. The change in the DSM, a kind of Bible among medical professionals, lawmakers, and drug and insurance companies, doesn't just apply to pedophilia, but to several other deviant sexual desires listed in the manual. It represents "a subtle but crucial difference that makes it possible for an individual to engage in consensual atypical sexual behavior without inappropriately being labeled with a mental disorder," explains the APA in its DSM-5 Paraphilic Disorders Fact Sheet. The new manual specifies that in order for an atypical sexual behavior to be classified as a mental condition, a person must: It's important to note that the actual diagnostic criteria for pedophilia have not changed since the last version of the DSM, but what was once known as pedophilia is now called "pedophilia disorder," the APA pointed out in an emailed statement to The Huffington Post. Hate to say it... but if you agree with the current thought on sexuality and mental disorders, it sounds like a logical step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truthfinder Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Not All Pedophiles Have Mental Disorder Hate to say it... but if you agree with the current thought on sexuality and mental disorders, it sounds like a logical step. This was posted in 2013 - so I don't know what's happened after that. But there is one particularly disturbing line in the above excerpt: "whose desires are not distressing or harmful to themselves or others ". So only if they are disturbed by their own desires. This is so subjective, and leaves about a million miles of interpretation in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriela Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Yeah, it is a logical next step. And guess what the step after that is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Every time I talk about it bring a slippery slope, I get called a bigot. Working with death row inmates taught me one important thing. These guys have fantasies for years sometimes before they act on them. All it takes is a life stressor and too much alcohol for them to act on those fantasies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_nine Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 people think slippery slope is always a logical fallacy but it's not necessarily so. If you can establish a pattern or precedent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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