I have a friend w ADHD who called her meltdowns “tantrums” until I asked her about them. I asked if she had them on purpose to get a result, or if they happened naturally when she’s overwhelmed and everything is too much to handle. She said the latter sounded more accurate, and that she didn’t know there was a word for it. Now she calls what she has meltdowns, and knows that they’re not because of her temper, and hopefully knows that it’s not her fault that she has them. She at least knows that I have them too.
This is why neurodiverse terminology is important! It makes people feel less alone and less to blame for what they can’t help. And it strengthens neurodiverse friendships 🙂
I’m in favor of the father’s behavior, but in light of the latest additions I do want to say something. If you’re the type that can’t have a rational discussion on an emotional topic, save yourself the time and don’t read the rest of this post.
At the time of this writing, we are on the DSM-5. The DSM is a manual to help diagnose mental disorders currently recognized as mental disorders. Pedophilia shows up in the DSM-5, though its specifics are being debated based on vague terms such as “action”. You can read about these disputes in the “Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law” here: jaapl.org/content/42/4/404
Pedophile – A person sexually attracted to a child
Child Rapist/Molestor – A pedophile who has taken their thoughts into reality and have caused harm to a child through their sexual expression
If we are to have a proper discussion on this subject (as opposed to the generic “I can’t believe people are defending pedophiles” non-argument that always pops up), we have to understand these two terms.
I should say again that I fully support the father’s actions by physically removing the child molestor from his son and then calling the police. I’d argue that is the proper procedure in dealing with such a horrifying situation. I should say that I would, without hesitation, do the same to any child molestor I caught in the act. The very idea this could happen to my students or any other child sickens me to the point of a new emotion I’d like to call “rausea”, a combination of rage and nausea. Surely, I believe I’d be vomiting on the child molestor in pure disgust as each of my punches land.
That being said, for whatever reason, pedophiles exist, and many exist who have not escalated to child molestation/rape. The important part people keep missing and flippantly dismissing as “defending pedophiles” is this: IF WE WANT TO PREVENT THIS ESCALATION OF PEDOPHILIA TO CHILD MOLESTATION, WE MUST ALLOW PEDOPHILES TO RECEIVE TREATMENT.
Look, I get viscerally upset/disgusted/enraged at the knowledge that child molestation happens, and I am hardly comforted by the idea that there are more pedophiles quietly integrating with society. However, if I care about children and their safety, I need to set my emotions aside to think rationally.
Pedophilia has been documented for centuries, it’s not magically disappearing anytime soon. As uncomfortable as it is to think about, if we care about the safety of children we must figure out how to treat pedophiles so their thoughts do not turn into a reality. To do so, we must remove the stigma…at least within the confines of mental health care and the law…so that pedophiles may feel safe/comfortable with seeking out treatment.
If that upsets you, before throwing sarcasm my way, ask why you’re upset by trying to prevent the rape of a child through treatment.
In no way am I suggesting that pedophiles become totally normalized in society. In no way am I suggesting that we, the public, reach out with love and compassion to pedophiles and invite them into our homes and hire them as babysitters to show how tolerant we are. I am only suggesting that we destigmatize it from a legal and medical standpoint to protect pedophiles who desperately want to stop fantasizing about children SO THAT THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO SEEK TREATMENT.
Rage is such a comfortable emotion in this case, and so many people rally around that rage…but that rage doesn’t prevent a pedophile from becoming a child rapist. That rage scares pedophiles away from potentially-helpful treatment, which unfortunately leads them into a losing battle that only serves to harm children. Our collective “rausea” stops treatment and leads to more child rape. That is not okay.
You may not like it, but it is a social problem that we all have to address. You may not want to humanize a pedophile, but many I’ve talked with (I will post comments and sometimes they feel compelled to message me) are also viscerally disgusted at their thoughts. They find the thoughts to be deeply disturbing, upsetting, and very much unwanted. They are terribly troubled by these thoughts and they want help. They know full well what child rape does to a child’s development, they know full well what the consequences are if they do this, and they do not want either of those issues to surface. The problem, as anyone who suffers from invasive thoughts can attest to, is that the very disturbing and terrible thoughts can come to fruition if they don’t know how to combat those thoughts.
I never even considered this until I had a course in college taught by a psychologist who worked with child molestors as part of a court order. He kept talking about the same problem: they wanted help BEFORE the situation became child molestation, but due to the stigma they couldn’t get help. As a result, they eventually gave into their invasive thoughts and now they deeply harmed a child and ruined their own life as well. What my professor kept saying (and I’m paraphrasing): “We force them into treatment only after the act was done. We recognize treatment helps. Why, then, do we stigmatize treatment for pedophiles who haven’t acted on their impulses? We could save children this way by allowing them beneficial treatment before they cause harm.”
Most of the class reacted the way the comments on this thread are acting…disgust, anger, “are you honestly defending pedophiles??” But those knee-jerk reactions need to stop for a second so we may think clearly: if treatment helps, why should we scare pedophiles away from it to prevent child molestation?
It has been a topic ongoing in the psychiatric community, but because we are the ones contributing to the stigma we should also have this discussion.
As I do with any of my posts, if something I posted above is something you relate to and you need to talk, my DM’s are always open and so is my ask: http://wtfteaching.tumblr.com/ask
wait until it gets dark and make tea or coffee or hot chocolate, or if it’s too hot outside make yourself a healthy smoothie with your favorite things in it at any point during the day
put on your favorite underwear, it helps, trust me, it’s an old family secret (i’m not kidding)
if you have a pet, play the “how many things can i stick on you until you move or get mad” game (bonus points if they fall asleep, extra bonus points if a family member sees you and tells you to quit it, extra double ultra points if they join in)
rip a peice of paper into as many little pieces as you can
go to animeseason.com and click “random anime” until you see one that looks completely ridiculous (or actually good) and watch the first episode. repeat if it sucked or if you get bored halfway through
spend at least an hour making a music playlist for how you feel right now and save it for now or when you feel a bad mood rise again
curl up in bed and cover yourself with blankets and pillows and put in music and just lay there for a while (sleeping is also good)
eat everything
drink lots of water
it’s okay bad moods don’t last forever!!!!!! i promise!!! you will be yourself soon and there are people who love you very much, don’t be afraid to reach out to them
you are lovely
eat lots of bananas
here are some more friends
i bet there is still a box of crayons in your house somewhere (if not you can get them cheap during back-to-school sales); find them and use them (maybe while watching ridiculous anime)
sunshine if you can manage it or just a sun lamp trust me it matters more than you think especially in winter
hugs even if they are stuffed animals or your pet or your pillow whatever is on hand
if you’ve got a favorite lotion/soap/thing that is scented use it liberally
cry if you need, if it doesn’t start by itself or if you don’t want to attract attention put on a sad movie so you have an excuse
write this down to pull out on future bad days:
it is okay to have a day where you don’t get things done
it is okay not to have a reason for feeling bad
taking care of yourself is a worthwhile use of time
if you still don’t feel better it is not your fault (and it is okay to ask for help)
“MAYBE IT’S NOT MY WEEKEND, BUT IT’S GONNA BE MY YEAR” I scream at 12 am with tears streaming down my face and a bottle of champagne in my hand. it has not been my year yet. it’s not even a weekend today is Thursday