Dramatic Improvement with Sertraline in a Male Adolescent with Voyeurism

Abstract

spy on sexual intercourse compulsively, we diagnosed his severe paraphilic behaviours as voyeurism according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria1 rather than the voyeuristic behavior. This patient has fulfilled the A (over 6 months of symptoms) and B (prominent impairment in functionality) criteria of the DSM-V voyeuristic disorder10. In our opinion, his severe paraphilic behaviors could not be accounted for by adolescence sexual curiosity or interest. Perhaps early intervention and early treatment of adolescents with paraphilias may lead to better results than for adult paraphilic patients; however, specific characteristics of the adolescence period must be considered, preceding a diagnosis of paraphilic disorder in this age group. According to our point of view, the DSM-V criteria restricting the diagnosis of voyeuristic disorder under the age of eighteen10 could lead to a missed diagnosis and lack of early treatment of young patients with severe voyeuristic behaviors like the individual in our case report