I played doctor with my little brother

I feel really bad now. I was around 12 and he was around 8. We took off our shirts and nothing serious happened. We didn't have sex. I just feel horrible about it and sometimes he brings it up and I tell him to pretend like it never happened. I haven't told my parents about it, but I don't know what to do. Should I just keep brushing it off as something we did when we were children? I told my best friend about it when we were 15 and she accepted it and was really nice about it. We're still friends now. Should I tell my parents?

Regretful-

It might be helpful to know a little about you. Any relevant diagnosis? Are you male or female? Still living at home?

My take is I think you are making too much of a relatively minor, single incident during growing up. It appears nobody was hurt, nobody's body was violated. Any reason to think it is causing your brother any problems? Overall, how is your relationship with your brother?

I'm not sure what would be accomplished by informing your parents. It's not as though they can go back in time and change things. But if it would help you come to terms with the situation, perhaps you should inform them. I would suggest discussing it with a therapist first, though.

Children are naturally curious about the opposite sex. As an only child, I "played doctor" with a couple of neighborhood boys a year or so older than I when I was eight years old. While I think it's probably not a particularly healthy thing for a girl that age, of all the things I might feel uneasy about having done, that is pretty far down the list.

There are taboos surrounding the naked body, but I don't think there's anything wrong with seeing your sister or brother naked and maybe a little bit of naked physical contact. What's important is that all parties feel as though their personal boundaries aren't violated, like what may happen if someone is raped or molested. If you didn't violate his personal boundaries, then you probably did nothing wrong.

Nobody was hurt, just keep telling him to forget it when he brings it up.

I think it depends on why he's bringing it up. Do you have an idea of why, Regretful?