I work with someone with AIDS/HIV & I feel uncomfortable!!?

Question

I dont want to be mean or anything but it bothers me....what should I do , should I stay away from the person or what..I am ignorant of this disease....thank you

I am not discrimating against this person...I dont avoid them, I am myself with this person...I just feel uncomfortable(in my own head), it just comes natural to feel that way...To clear things up for some of you.

Answer 1

Well, after reading all of the other posts to this question, you should know by now that there is no way you can contract the disease (unless you have unprotected sex with this person, which doesn't seem likely! or you share dirty needles with them or something like that-also not likely).

So, what I'm thinking might help you is to just think about everyone else you work with and everyone else you come in contact with every day. Some of those people have contagious diseases, and you don't even know it! It is possible that another person you work with or are friends with has HIV and doesn't even know themself. I'm not saying this to freak you out or make you even more paranoid, but just to make it clear that if you didn't know this person had HIV, you probably wouldn't treat them any different than anyone else, and you still would have no chance of catching the disease from them.

This might seem difficult, but maybe it will help you to talk to the person. You don't have to say "I'm freaked out by you", but you could say, "I'm interested in learning more about it" or "How does it affect your life", etc. I bet that would help you learn a whole lot about it fast!

Answer 2

What I suggest you do is educate yourself. You need to learn everything you can about the disease and how it is or is not transmitted. You're not ignorant...you're just uneducated about HIV. Many people are. There is no shame in that. Just remedy the situation.

You CANNOT get HIV through casual contact.

Talk to your own doctor or even better, contact an HIV clinic. They are highly knowledgeable about the disease and can tell you everything you need to know. They can give you pamphlets and brochures and they can counsel you. They can even test you if you like. HIV testing is strictly confidential.

It's natural for something like this to bother you. However, just know that unless you engage in risky behavior with this person, you are not at risk. You cannot get HIV from toilet seats, drinking fountains, using the same coffee pot, using the same telephone, sitting at their desk, using their computer, touching them (shaking hands, hugs), being in the same room as them and on down the line. By risky behavior, I mean sexual contact, sharing needles and so forth.

Learn about the disease. I think by doing that, it will decrease your fear and make you more confortable. I have several friends with HIV and I have no problems hanging out with them and such. There is no fear as I know that I cannot get HIV through casual contact.

EMT

Answer 3

You shouldn't have any reason to avoid them or be uncomfortable. You cannot contract HIV/AIDS from a person who has through day to day contact. You can only get the virus through open sores or sexual intercourse. The fact that you are uncomfortable around the person may be that you have just never been around someone with it before, and you don't know how to behave. Just be yourself, and treat them as if they didn't even have the disease. Yes, you may be a bit ignorant, but as you are around this person more hopefully you will become less ignorant. You do not have worry about being around them. So chill.

Answer 4

Well this is my answer sex is an act performed by mind not by only genital. Imagine kissing a baby do you you feel any thing sure not now asking with parent you feel uncomfortable why because there is something in mind and that portion of feeling is sex now what is real sex for that you have to grow up

Answer 5

Unless you are having unprotected sex with this person or sharing needles with them you are not at any health risk from working with this person or being close socially with him or her.

Lots of people get freaked out about HIV. This is normal. Don't be ashamed of this, but also realise that your work colleague poses no real health risk to you. Reasearch some good quality information, and make the effort to be friends with your colleague. I suspect you will learn a lot of useful stuff if you make the effort.

Answer 6

Here's some info for you.
You CANNOT catch HIV/AIDS by:-
Touching things that the carrier touches, holds, or uses.
Being in the same room.
Using the same rest rooms.
Breathing the same air.
Shaking their hand.
Drinking or eating with them.
Talking to them.
Casual contact.

You can catch it from sharing needles, Sex, and from blood (and that's only if you also have an open wound for the blood to get in). So unless your workmate is doing intravenous drugs with you, bleeding, or you want to have sex with them, treat them as you would any other workmate.

Answer 7

Get yourself educated about this disease hon... the virus lives less than 72 seconds outside the body... you cannot get it unless you are swapping blood or bodily fluids, It isn't even transmitted by mosquito. It is a hard disease to get unless you are having sex with some one who has it, or you are a surgeon who is operating on someone with it, and nick yourself with a scalpel or a needle... Google it. Get informed, and stop being silly.

Answer 8

Don't feel uncomfortable. It's not like you can catch the disease by being near him.

I agree with Heather. It is natural to feel weird around someone different than you.

Answer 9

You have a very minute chance of every contracting that disease from them....HOWEVER it is completely natural and normal to feel uncomfortable around someone who is carrying a fatal disease. If it really bothers you I would ask for a different position that didn't require much contact with them. Oh, and screw anybody who tells you that you are wrong for feeling uncomfortable, IT'S A FATAL CONTAGIOUS DISEASE, you are a human and it is completely reasonable for you to feel uncomfortable out of self-preservation.

Answer 10

i dont think your ignorant..and i bet many people feel this way...so dont feel bad...imagine how many we sit next to on a train bus..resturant and we never know it...if yo learn more about this disease ..then you will feel better..and try to put yourself in their shoes to see how you would like to be treated..its spread through blood and seman and vaginal fluids..so i feel that you are no danger..however...we can all be afraid of what we do not understand..so..dont let yourself be judged today because no one on this earth is ever near perfect