Mental breakdown when discovering sexually transmitted disease

Specialist Doctor 2 Doan Van Loi Em, Head of Clinical Department 3, Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital, said that through medical history, the patient said that he and his lover (also a man) had had sex for about a year, but recently the patient discovered that his lover had also had sex with several other partners. Although there were no unusual symptoms, the patient was so worried that he went to a private testing facility to get tested for HIV.

Upon receiving a positive HIV test result, the patient felt confused, isolated himself, and refused to communicate with others. The patient was anxious, had insomnia, and at some point even had suicidal thoughts.

Upon discovering the incident, the mother took the patient to the Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital for re-testing and screening for other sexually transmitted diseases.

When sexually transmitted diseases are discovered, many people are mentally devastated.

After testing, the patient was found to be HIV positive but not infected with any other sexually transmitted diseases. Despite extensive counseling about the disease, the patient was still depressed. The patient was referred to a psychiatrist for consultation. After several visits to the psychiatrist, the patient was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and prescribed medication for 6 months.

According to Dr. Em, patients with sexually transmitted diseases often have psychological problems. Another case is a male patient (30 years old) who is married. After a drunken night out, the patient was invited by his friends to go for a relaxing massage. Here, the massage therapist had oral sex with the patient. Although the patient was conscious, he was not conscious and did not resist.

After about 3 days, the patient felt itchy in the urethra, urination became painful and started to secrete pus, so he went to the Dermatology Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

"After being examined and tested by me, the patient was diagnosed with gonorrheal urethritis. Although gonorrhea is not difficult to treat and the treatment time is only about 1 week, the patient became depressed with feelings of shame and guilt," Dr. Em shared.

The patient felt self-conscious when communicating and meeting other people because he was afraid that others might discover and judge him badly. At home, the patient did not dare to have sex with his wife because he was afraid of infecting her and being discovered.

Even after multiple visits, the test results clearly showed that the patient was no longer ill. However, the patient still believed that he was ill and continued to insist on being tested, so the doctor took the initiative to consult and refer him to a psychiatrist.

The patient was then treated with medication combined with psychological counseling at a psychiatric clinic with a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

According to Dr. Em, it is clear that sexually transmitted diseases can significantly affect the mental health of patients and with many different manifestations. For doctors, the treatment of diseases should approach many different comprehensive therapies to treat patients. For patients, it is necessary to pay attention to sexual life and healthy living to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.

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