As the legend goes, when the Titans lost the great war against the Olympians, Atlas was scorned for not supporting Zeus and his brethren. Simply for being a Titan, Atlas was forced to hold the immense burden of entire sky upon his back for eternity.

In the world of our known humanity, there is much misunderstood about ourselves; there is a lot of mysteriousness and confusing feelings. Some things we are born with may simply be a boon or a disadvantage, while others are crippling. Perhaps even less understood is why our world tends to be vitriolic against those who have no choice in who they are, and why sympathy runs out when the person lives a life tragically distorted from ours.

To quote an anonymous poster, “I’m a 20-year-old man who has been trying to deal with an attraction to young girls since I was 13. Women just don't interest me. I wish with all my soul that I could have a brain that's wired normally. I know that I can never act on what I feel, but I need to speak to a therapist because I don't think I can get through this on my own. But if I talk to a therapist he could report me, because I have to talk about my attraction to young girls. I don’t know whether he would or not and don't even know how to go about getting more information. Even the friendships I have are in danger of falling apart because I can't just keep saying 'I'm fine' and I can't talk to anyone about my problem. I think about suicide a lot.”

In order to really approach the issue of pedophilia, one must first address the natural emotional backlash one feels when considering the gravitas of the topic. Is pedophilia really something one is born with, and not a choice? Is it something to be defended, and if it is, does that mean we support pedophiles who do hurt children?

The answers aren’t so readily apparent. The statistics for pedophilia are small, very small. Of men, less than 5 percent exhibit traits of pedophilia, and the case is even lower for women. However, for women it is often thought to be lower because of the distorted view of young men, women and sex, and hence these sexual crimes are often under reported as well. Even tougher to ascertain is the exact number of pedophiles, as these statistics are primarily gathered from crime data.

The issue is, no one is willing to come forward. This is due to the large stigma and hatred for pedophiles, even if they haven’t offended. In the larger scheme, it is a symptom of a society that doesn’t understand or sympathizes with those who suffer under mental illness. When a schizophrenic harms himself or herself or their family, we do not see a struggling individual racked with paranoias and hallucinations delivered to them by birth, but a monster. And so with no one to participate in studies or treatment, understanding of the illness is sparse.

In other countries, there are some that have more accepting systems of mental health care that allows pedophiles, to a degree, seek the help they need. According to this site, a German therapy group aimed at helping pedophiles says that while pedophilia isn’t curable any more than homosexuality and the causes are unknown, treatment has been known to better the lives of sufferers and prevent cases of child molestation. Treatments include cognitive-behavioral therapy, group therapy, and, for the more extreme cases, sexually-inhibiting drugs. So although therapy can’t cure pedophilia, it has been known to better their lives; they just first have to be able to get there without being hated or jailed in the process.

Daniel Sierra, a friend of mine, says, “Pedophiles are treated permanently, marked for their entire lives, even if they don’t offend. We dehumanize them, and give them no opportunity to reform: I suspect that they feel dehumanized, as enemies of society; they’re abhorred. We should open our arms and allow them therapy.”

But this leads to the next question: if we start looking at pedophiles as humans, ones struggling with a problem some would see as insurmountable, does this mean we condone the abuses of children that do happen? The answer would seem to be a no, but when it comes to our nation mental health isn’t treated too kindly. We often cannot separate mental illness from the crimes, and the support for advanced mental health care is lacking. Pedophilia is no exclusion. In function, no, we do not condone the sexual abuses against children; but what we should do, as a society, is allow an avenue for pedophiles to come forward without stigma, without vitriol, and receive the help they need.

Pedophilia has no discernible causes. However, from the research done so far, there is evidence that pedophilia is a biological determination, something born without someone’s control and at the outset of their birth. In an interview explaining research on pedophilia, Dr. David Goldberg explains that pedophilia is heavily associated with several physical anomalies and seemingly malformed brain pathing, saying that the normal responses of platonic feelings with children that normally occur in people are instead replaced with sexual thoughts in pedophiles. He also says that we should focus on rehabilitation and support, and not punishment, because pedophiles are most likely to commit offenses when desperate, and that our current social attitudes exacerbate that feeling, not deter it. In addition, he says only 10-15 percent of sex offenders re-offend, and aren’t “ticking time bombs.”

Interestingly enough, Goldberg explains studies suggest that pedophiles who molest children have structural brain differences from those that don’t, suggesting that there is also an aspect that affects the conscience that must coincide with pedophilia for people to be able to abuse children without guilt. Whether this develops within the fetus or from experience shaping brain developing, such as abuse, it hasn’t be ascertained.

Luke Malone, an author, speaks in an online interview on his experience writing about pedophilia. “I thought how harrowing and confusing it must be to be, say, 13 and realize you’re attracted to children. Well, much younger children. With no frame of reference, no one to turn to. As a gay guy, I can relate in some small way to that confusion and dread,” says Luke. “There was no It Gets Better when I was coming up. I started looking around to see if there was anywhere that these guys, and sometimes young women, could get help or therapy to deal with this massive thing. And there’s nothing. Zilch. There are even laws in place that make it tricky to see a regular therapist.”

If one considered a world where pedophiles were more accepted as human beings with flaws, and allowed paths for treatment, perhaps there would be less broken individuals. In a world that constantly steps on their heels, it is not surprising why the children of Atlas collapse under the weight of their world.