That day, such a patient came to my clinic.
He looked worried, holding a wet paper towel in his hand, and carefully wiped the stool three times before sitting stiffly.
After fighting with himself, he finally raised his head and said:
Doctor, I think I have AIDS.
Under the guidance of good advice, I learned his story.
Xiao Zhang has been strict with family education since he was a child. His parents are demanding of him and strict with his daily words and deeds. For example, he must wash his hands before and after meals. His family conditions are also good. His father’s foreign friends often come to stay at home for a short time. His father will urge Xiao Zhang to seize the opportunity to practice English.
After going to college, in the school library, Xiao Zhang learned in a book that the incidence of AIDS abroad is particularly high, AIDS is highly infectious, and the treatment effect is poor. Somehow, he suddenly came up with strange thoughts:
Have I been in contact with foreign friends before, will I be infected with AIDS? Am I hopeless?
Coincided with some tiredness, he immediately associated:
Finished, do I already have AIDS symptoms?
Xiao Zhang was tortured by these [crazy] thoughts all day long, thinking over and over again, sometimes even his scalp was tight and he had difficulty breathing, just like he was going to die. The feeling was really terrible.
[I got AIDS] This terrible idea lingers on. Xiao Zhang began to repeatedly go to large 3A hospitals and disease control centers around the country for examination. The examination results are always negative, Xiao Zhang is still not at ease, and the aforementioned idea still lingers on.
Gradually, he felt that the world was very dirty, full of HIV, washed his hands repeatedly, and lived all day in fear of [being polluted by AIDS]. Clothes, bed sheets, bedding and pillowcases must also be cleaned and aired separately… Then, he did not dare to share the dormitory with his classmates, nor did he dare to live and eat with his parents when he went home on weekends, fearing that he would be infected with AIDS.
Xiao Zhang lives all day long in repeated cleaning, fear and worry, thinking over and over again about such issues as “will I be infected with AIDS?” And so on. He still has no improvement when he drops out of school and goes home. He even dares not go out or talk to people. After speaking, he will repeatedly say in his mind “will I be infected with AIDS?” And so on.
These performances tortured Xiao Zhang for nearly half a year and made him miserable. Under the repeated suggestions of his family and infectious doctors, Xiao Zhang finally reluctantly agreed to see a psychologist.
After speaking, Xiao Zhang asked, Doctor, do I have [fear of AIDS]?
What is [phobia of AIDS]?
In recent years, there have been reports on AIDS in the media and newspapers. In particular, it is reported that there have been high-risk sexual behaviors (such as unclean sexual behaviors, same-sex sexual behaviors, etc.), contact with HIV carriers, and contaminated blood, etc., which have caused fear among the general public and even formed a [epidemic fear of AIDS] phenomenon, bringing greater negative effects.
Many people are learning some information about AIDS, and it is normal to have this worry at the beginning.
However, this kind of worry became more and more serious and seriously affected their daily life, study and interpersonal communication, which was a morbid manifestation.
Up to now, there is no diagnostic label for the disease [fear of AIDS] at home and abroad.
The behavioral performance and emotional reaction of [fear of AIDS] belong to a syndrome or symptom group. From a medical point of view, it can be seen in the following diseases:
1. Obsessive-compulsive obstacles
Xiao Zhang in the above example was finally diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
His [fear of AIDS] psychology belongs to a kind of obsessive-compulsive concept, which in turn gives rise to the obsessive-compulsive concept of [fear of pollution], obsessive-compulsive doubts, obsessive-compulsive cleansing, etc. His mind is occupied by these thoughts, which makes him anxious and even appear the symptoms of panic attack [like dying].
In order to offset the uneasiness brought about by the concept of coercion, he was repeatedly examined and cleaned. However, this did not take away his uneasiness. As a result, forced cleaning and inspection became more frequent.
2. Hypochondriasis
Hypochondria patients will be examined repeatedly in order to [confirm] that they are suffering from some serious illness, and think that the doctor who diagnosed him [not sick] is a quack. Before that, the patient may find that there are some physical symptoms that are exactly the same as this serious illness.
A small number of people with [fear of AIDS] will interpret their slight discomfort as anxiety and fear of contracting AIDS. Despite repeated medical guarantees (such as normal examinations), the concept of individual fear or belief in illness still persists and they have always been convinced that they are suffering from AIDS.
3. Disease phobia
This kind of phobia, together with animal fear, claustrophobia and other diseases, belongs to the same category, and is actually a kind of [specific phobia].
This kind of patients repeatedly worry about suffering from cancer, sexually transmitted diseases or other serious diseases such as AIDS. When this idea does not appear, the patients can realize that this idea is abnormal, and some patients will avoid going to the hospital for examination.
4. Epidemic hysteria (collective hysteria attack)
Occasionally, news reports showed that a primary school student had discomfort after intramuscular injection of the vaccine and suspected that there was a problem with the quality of the vaccine. Soon afterwards, most of the students in the class had similar discomfort. It was later confirmed that there was no problem with the quality of the vaccine.
This is actually an epidemic hysteria attack, This [popular] situation is most likely to occur among young women with relatively close companions, Typically, the epidemic first occurs in individuals with high hint, performance and focus of attention in the group. This first case may come from an individual who has a general understanding of the threat of physical diseases, may also be an individual who is particularly concerned about the infection of an acquaintance with diseases, or may have some discomfort unrelated to the diseases they are worried about.
For the public, the horror of AIDS has exceeded its original threat. In very few cases, people around patients diagnosed with AIDS who have had contact with them will also show symptoms of [illness] and panic about it, and this [illness] can magically [spread] to more people who have come into contact with [patients].
5. Somatic delusional disorder
There are very few such patients, and they may have personality disorders themselves, such as being out of tune with the people around them, acting suspiciously, stubborn and even paranoid.
Different from the previous situations, such patients may not have any [experience of possible infection with AIDS] at all, that is, they [know] that they have AIDS, and the examination results cannot correct their views.
Such patients firmly believe that they suffer from physical diseases or deformities and cannot be corrected by facts, but they have no obvious anxiety reaction and lack obvious motivation to seek treatment.
5. Acute stress disorder
Also known as [acute psychogenic reaction], it is very rare.
Patients may encounter emergencies related to AIDS, such as media reports that they were stuck with needles on buses (which were later confirmed to be clean syringes) and other conditions, and then they will show signs of nervousness, fear, crying and crying, constantly chanting [finished, finished, I am infected with AIDS].
6. Other mental disorders
Schizophrenia, depression, generalized anxiety disorder and other mental diseases may also have behaviors and manifestations of [fear of AIDS] at a certain period of the disease, and specialized consultation and diagnosis are especially important at this time.
What should I do if I am afraid of AIDS?
If you have had condom-free sex or other high-risk behaviors, it is normal to worry about illness.
At present, blood tests for AIDS in domestic hospitals are free of charge. Under normal circumstances, tests are carried out three months after high-risk behaviors. If the test results are negative, there is no need to worry any more.
However, if after the examination, the worry not only cannot be calmed down, but also becomes more and more serious, and the anxiety has to be relieved through repeated medical treatment, examination and other behaviors, and even is very sensitive to subtle changes in the body, it is recommended to go to the psychiatric department of the hospital to see a doctor.
As mentioned earlier, [fear of AIDS] behaviors or manifestations may be [common] manifestations of various psychological diseases, and different treatments are required for different diagnoses.
Therefore, medical treatment is the best choice in self-treatment.