Why are we so complacent about STD's?

P

piggy

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news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3928539.stm

www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-13169946,00.html

Why is it we are so complacent about STD's? I don't have figures reflecting Irish health and STD's, but surely this trend can't only be a British phenomena? Sky News give more focus to the dramatic rise in HIV in Britain.

Why are we not taking responsibility for our bodies? As both reports stress, it's not just kids. It's people in their twenties and thirties who are at risk. It's a pretty scary prospect for the coming generations...
 
I think its one of those things that people feel "it will never happen to me"

Of my friends - male and female - no one has said they had an STD. That creates the feeling that it doesn't really happen to anyone! For all I know many of my friends may have had some sort of scare, but they will never freely admit it.

One of the contributors to the rise of STDs is the drink and shag culture in Ireland. People are less able to make a responsible decision while under the influence. Also, women are now getting a little too used to the easy solution of the morning after pill - this is a further contributor to the problem. That and the pill make people feel that condoms are not necessary.
 
For all I know many of my friends may have had some sort of scare, but they will never freely admit it.
I had a scare once, years ago, with a girlfriend at the time. I got a checkup and got a clean bill of health from the doctor but it scared the pants off me. I think that's why I'm so aware of it now and relatively cautious.

One of the contributors to the rise of STDs is the drink and shag culture in Ireland. People are less able to make a responsible decision while under the influence

Absolutely. A few of my mates have seemingly no regard whatsoever for anything when drunk (let alone their own bodies). Condoms rarely stand in the way of their goal. I've also known/been on holiday with people who've used prostitutes but because they didn't have full sex didn't bother using a condom!!
The drink and shag culture has other repurcussions which go beyond just pregnancy or std's. I'm no prude by any means, but in this day and age I'm always a little wary of anybody who's willing to jump into bed with you after a few drinks.
 
> I think that's why I'm so aware of it now and relatively cautious.

What does relatively cautious mean in this context? Sounds dodgy to me...
 
What does relatively cautious mean in this context? Sounds dodgy to me...

It just means I'm cautious about who I'd get into bed with. That's all.
 
>but it scared the pants off me.

Excellent choice of words piggy
 
"I`m cautious about who I get into bed with"

Sorry, Piggy but I have to ask how in God`s name can you decide who to be wary of re possibility of their having STDs before hopping into bed with them?

And is drink really a good enough excuse for people to loose the run of themselves and throw caution to the wind when it comes to engaging in unsafe practices? The terror of getting an STD should be enough to counteract the effects of the alcohol. Could be that they`re born optimists or just not afraid enough.

Cliona
 
it'll never happen to me

certainly the attitude of many 25-35 year olds in the past. Certainly it was my attitude. There's nothing more harrowing than going to the clinic and waiting for 2 weeks for results. thankfully everything in my case was ok but it scared the bejaysus out of me because like so many others I hadn't even thought of potential risks.

Having spoken to doctors in relation to this, the STD risk in Ireland, especially Dublin is amazingly high.

Its common sense to get yourself checked out, because you just dont know. What may look like a safe choice bed partner may have dire consequences. It only take one infected person, infected even accidentally themselves to pass chlamydia, gonnorhea, syphillis, HIV or other nasties on. When you start to think of how they can possibly affect you, then it opens your eyes and safe sex is the only option, especially in the cultural environment we live in today. by that I mean, we all go on holidays, we have lots of foreign nationals and who knows who has been with who. hopefully this is not as taken as a racist jibe which its not.
 
testing

I think part of the problem is the stigma which many would feel in going to get tested. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to impact enough on people to make them practice safer sex. But it does seem to make them less likely to go and get tested and therefore contributes to the spread of STDs as they don't know for sure if they're infected or not. (That's not in any way a proven theory, just my own thought on the subject). I'm a child of the 80s and I grew up terrified at the thought of AIDS. That didn't mean that I wanted to give up sexual freedom but rather made me be very careful about what I chose to do. It also left me with the feeling that as a responsible adult it was my duty to get tested regularly regardless of how safe I thought I was being. Unfortunately, the one time I asked the family planning clinic I used to go to about getting tested I was treated so badly it really put me off. I was looked at as if I was already infected with all sorts of unimaginable diseases and thereafter treated as a silly girl who "put herself at risk". I finally did get tested a year later when I had moved to a more sympathetic gynae. However, he told me that if I ever had to fill out any life insurance or any other forms which asked for medical details, not to give his name as well as my GP as he would be obliged to reveal that I had been tested for HIV.
 
naming you?

Janet, how long back is that? That doen't seem right. James Hospital strictly said that no tests will ever be put on record when I asked them. no matter what.
 
searching memory

hmmm...let me think. It was about three years ago I think. I thought the same as you did, that if you went to one of the bigger clinics in James' or Baggot St, that names were not necessarily used or kept on file. But it seems they are. Have to admit that I didn't look into it any further and took his word for it. Maybe it's a different situation because I got tested at my normal gynae rather than going to one of the clinics?
 
Re: searching memory

Hi folks - Would it necessarily be a good thing for all such tests to be 'off the record'? While I wouldn't like to see insurance company discrimination, isn't it fair to let the insurance company have the full information for them to assess the risk?
 
Re: searching memory

"isn't it fair to let the insurance company have the full information for them to assess the risk? "

I think that what is being suggested here is that merely by taking a test, this lady was in some way proclaiming herself to be a bad risk, whereas in fact (by her reckoning) she is just very cautious.

Obviously, you should be (and are) obliged to disclose an adverse test result to an insurer; Also, if you are in fact a member of a high risk group, or if your own unique lifestyle simply makes you a higher than normal risk, then this must be disclosed.

But it seems unfair for a person who is not a particularly risky prospeect, but who is particularly diligent about getting tested, to be treated as though they were in fact a high risk.
 
Re: searching memory

I think I'd agree with MOB here. The thing about an STD test is that it's voluntary. By making it known that you've had one done and that you got the all clear couldn't the insurance company (possibly) take the view that you might be a higher than normal risk anyway, given that you went to the bother of having one done?
I realise the link is tenuous and would depend on the insurer and their point of view...but that would be the danger as I'd see it.
 
Re: searching memory

Yep - I can see your point of view. But I feel that depends on how the insurance company interpret the information about tests, not whether the tests should be disclosed in the first place.

They might also form the view (not my opinion, but possibly their opinion), that the decision to take a test does indicate some level of involvement in prior risky activities.
 
Re: searching memory

Yeah. I get your point. I think it comes down to a matter of trust. How much do you trust your insurer to take the view that you're healthy full stop, regardless of the fact that you've had an STD test?
Personally...I don't have a great deal of confidence in them.
 
he called me a lady (blush)

I think they do seem to take that view rainyday. But there are degrees of risk. Having sex is a risk. Very few people (I think) choose to remain celibate. Choosing carefully who you have sex with (people who you know and trust and who are not complete strangers for example), using condoms, asking the people you do sleep with if they have been tested and are clear - these are all ways of minimising the risk that comes with being sexually active. Another part of minimising that risk imo is me making sure that I have not been infected. Trusting someone can only go so far and the only thing I can be really sure of is what I have done in the past.

Unfortunately, it might just be a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't.
 
STD's

I agree with MOB here. Rainyday is right in as much as you have to tell them if you have the clap but why tell them if you have been tested for it?
Missus Purple is a GP and among other interesting facts that she comes out with is that the bacteria that causes most throat infections in women is most commonly transmitted by aural sex. Pretty disgusting, eh?

? I don't have figures reflecting Irish health and STD's, but surely this trend can't only be a British phenomena?
Click to expand...
I don't have figures either but (again from the missus I think) the figures for non-fatal STD's in Ireland are the highest in western Europe.
By the way Piggy, you are great man for the web links. Do you do any work during the day or is it that you stay up half the night finding interesting stuff for us to read?
Wherever you get the time from thanks, most of them are very good.
 
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