Aa
Talking with a sex worker and feel guilty and h HIV
I talked to a sex worker a week ago. The conservation is about how much does she will have sex,bla bla. but just a few sentences. It's all about the curiosity, not because I want to have sex with her since I realize how dangerous HIV is.
Then when I went back to home. I found it extremely guilty for I had a girlfriend, who has forgive my past mistakes, and still loved me a lot. Then I have a feeling that I will get HIV after talking to the sex worker since I have made lots of mistakes to my gf.
My girlfriend again forgives me and sympathizes with me, but I still feel somehow anxiety about the consequence, about the status of having HIV, about the lies I told her, to family, anything,.. I am feeling guilty a lot, and I think that the consequence for me is getting HIV.
Can you give me any advice, there aren't many psychologists, especially ones about hiv in my country.
Best Answer
I ask because there is a fine line between HIV anxiety and having OCD. You need to turn this negative thinking around. When the negative thought pops into your head "what if I got HIV?" you need to replace that with "There is no way I could have HIV, enough, now move on." It is a form of self-coaching. If you let the thought take off, that is when the trouble starts. There are books that can help you with altering your thinking. One of them is Self-Coaching by Joseph Luciani. I found that one to be good.
Hi again
Yes you are right, I mean 'checking' like trying to find more information and also checking in your mind (thinking about the same thing and coming up with further things to worry about).
I think its OK to do some checking to find out if there is really a risk, but the problem is we need to accept the answer instead of going further. Also, on the internet you can find lots of 'conservative' information. The Drs on the Medhelp HIV Prevention forum always point this out - government websites might say there is a chance of HIV from certain things - but in real life this is not true. If you are still worried, go on to the HIV Prevention forum and ask the Dr (it will cost some money) - but u have to trust him!
Or you can find plenty of answers on there where the Dr says not to worry about HIV from these situations. If you want you can check the question I asked, look at the Dr's reply;
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/HIV-question/show/1919159#post_8955674
He will say the same for your question, so if you want to save your money you can just take this answer - it will be the same :)
Yes you are right, I mean 'checking' like trying to find more information and also checking in your mind (thinking about the same thing and coming up with further things to worry about).
I think its OK to do some checking to find out if there is really a risk, but the problem is we need to accept the answer instead of going further. Also, on the internet you can find lots of 'conservative' information. The Drs on the Medhelp HIV Prevention forum always point this out - government websites might say there is a chance of HIV from certain things - but in real life this is not true. If you are still worried, go on to the HIV Prevention forum and ask the Dr (it will cost some money) - but u have to trust him!
Or you can find plenty of answers on there where the Dr says not to worry about HIV from these situations. If you want you can check the question I asked, look at the Dr's reply;
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/HIV-question/show/1919159#post_8955674
He will say the same for your question, so if you want to save your money you can just take this answer - it will be the same :)
you mean "checking" is going to HIV forums or something like that to check for the information, right?
I'm from VietNam, an Asian country. and HIV still is a hard-to-accept disease at the moment, at least I think so.
You used to be anxiety like me (according to what I read), so may be you understand how I feel right now. I'm tired of this
My friends and parents tell me that I'm fine, but you know it is not easy to forget all about it. I don't want to get test every single time I think and scare of HIV, it makes me ridiculous.
I see that it's not a risk, but until I know that if there is blood mixed in the saliva, it might be a risk as well. So then I start to feel scared and lots of "blood scenarios" appear in my mind, then anxiety comes back.
You used to be anxiety like me (according to what I read), so may be you understand how I feel right now. I'm tired of this
My friends and parents tell me that I'm fine, but you know it is not easy to forget all about it. I don't want to get test every single time I think and scare of HIV, it makes me ridiculous.
I see that it's not a risk, but until I know that if there is blood mixed in the saliva, it might be a risk as well. So then I start to feel scared and lots of "blood scenarios" appear in my mind, then anxiety comes back.
Hi there
If you check on the HIV Prevention Expert forum you'll find the Drs saying yo shouldn't worry about getting HIV from everyday activities - so talking to someone who is a sex worker (HIV infected or not) isn't a risk at all.
Even kissing isn't a risk.
The Drs always say don't worry about getting HIV from everyday things, so please don't be worried.
I've been very anxious about getting HIV from everyday life and worried about passing it to someone in my life, but once we accept that we didn't get HIV things become much easier. :)
You didn't mention what country you are from, but maybe in your culture there is a lot of guilt and fear about HIV and its association with sex workers etc
Please don't be worried about this at all, it might be tough to stop thinking about it, but trust me, the anxiety might be so high right now, but after a few days it will go down. But if u keep 'checking' about HIV, it will probably keep those fears alive. It might reduce the anxiety each time u check, but it will come back with another question very quickly. So trust me, just try to forget it, although its hard, the anxiety will fade out as u stay with your decision :)
If you check on the HIV Prevention Expert forum you'll find the Drs saying yo shouldn't worry about getting HIV from everyday activities - so talking to someone who is a sex worker (HIV infected or not) isn't a risk at all.
Even kissing isn't a risk.
The Drs always say don't worry about getting HIV from everyday things, so please don't be worried.
I've been very anxious about getting HIV from everyday life and worried about passing it to someone in my life, but once we accept that we didn't get HIV things become much easier. :)
You didn't mention what country you are from, but maybe in your culture there is a lot of guilt and fear about HIV and its association with sex workers etc
Please don't be worried about this at all, it might be tough to stop thinking about it, but trust me, the anxiety might be so high right now, but after a few days it will go down. But if u keep 'checking' about HIV, it will probably keep those fears alive. It might reduce the anxiety each time u check, but it will come back with another question very quickly. So trust me, just try to forget it, although its hard, the anxiety will fade out as u stay with your decision :)
I accidentally know that it might be a risk if there is blood mixed in the saliva. Can you clarify it for me? I just talked to her for few sentences. 5 minutes is maximum
and there is absolutely no way for me to get HIV, right? according to my circumstance
I have a talk with my girlfriend and she sympathize with me a lot, in addition to your comment, I think I will get better. Thank you so much
you mean irrational thoughts is about feeling guilty and getting HIV as a consequence? if yes, this is the first time.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Community
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
PrEP is used by people with high risk to prevent HIV infection.
