WHY IT IS SO HARD TO TALK ABOUT SEXUAL HEALTH AND STDS: DENIAL
Certain people, especially teenagers, may believe that although the risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection exists, they are somehow immune from getting one: “It couldn’t happen to me.” When the reality of the risk is overwhelming, it may be easier to think that they are “magically” protected than to deal with the responsibility of protecting themselves. And there are those who have the misperception that only promiscuous people get STDs. These myths can give people a false sense of security, and therefore they don’t perceive themselves to be at risk for getting a sexually transmitted infection.
It’s time to dispel these myths. Each year twelve million people in the United States acquire a sexually transmitted infection. Many more than that are dealing on a daily basis with chronic STDs such as herpes and genital warts. A variety of people in a variety of circumstances contract STDs. It only stands to reason that the more partners you have, the more likely you are to become infected with an STD. But even if you have only one partner, and that partner has had sex in the past and did not use protection, then you could be at risk of infection. And some STDs, such as genital warts, and herpes, can be transmitted even when you use a condom.
We have by now been through almost two decades of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, and the incidence of STDs is still increasing at an alarming rate. People fondly recall the “carefree” 1960s and 1970s, when sex was “risk free”—meaning that there was no perceived risk of HIV infection. It’s true that HIV has changed our ideas about sex and safe sex, but sex was never risk free. There have always been sexually transmitted infections. There have always been emotional risks as well. For heterosexual couples there has always been the risk of an unwanted pregnancy. But you have the ability to protect yourself—beginning by recognizing that there is a risk.
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