Guilt can drive people to all sorts of extremes. Doctors say it was guilt from using prostitutes and “HIV phobia” that caused “hundreds” of Chinese men to convince themselves and each other that they were stricken with a new sexually transmitted disease that had HIV-like symptoms.
While it is easy to dismiss such hypochondria as silly, consider the fact that Chinese authorities have a habit of lying and covering up epidemics (think SARS) – people could be forgiven for having some trust issues. The BBC reports that some people are doubting the accuracy of their negative HIV tests, and some people who have had as many as seven negative tests still remain unconvinced that they are disease-free, despite having only had protected sex.
The BBC describes victims as living in self-imposed exile out of fairs of spreading their disease. They discuss their ailments with other sufferers on Internet chat rooms filled with dozens of people experiencing the similar symptoms.
One of the men reporting to suffer from the mystery illness spoke to the BBC. He explained that he had taken the recommended precautions in a visit with a prostitute several months ago. He elaborated on his condition:
“I joined the chat room because I was sure I had been infected with this virus. Twenty-four hours later I had a strong desire to vomit. I had headaches, I was dizzy, I could feel my internal organs were swelling up. I was in intense pain. This lasted months.
Dissatisfied with the response from Chinese medical authorities, he attempted to gain the attention of the World Health Organization, to no avail. They think that the reason for both his symptoms and his negative test results is psychological, borne out of the guilt and anxiety of doing something that he believes is shameful.
While the possibility of Chinese medical authorities lying and the chance that a bunch of hypochondriacs got together on the Internet and chatted their way into a chronic illness are both potential etiologies of the epidemic, my money is on guilt and shame.
[ad#3_social_compact]
[Image]
