Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 05:03:06 pm

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772946
  • Total Topics: 66310
  • Online Today: 424
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 379
Total: 380

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Author Topic: bug chasers and gift givers (i don't know if this belongs in this forum or not)  (Read 18608 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline thepostergirl

  • Member
  • Posts: 29
Recently I attended a woman's HIV group for support and one of the professionals that was holding the meeting got onto the topic that there's this issue going around and she called it "Bug chasers" and "Gift Givers". I had never heard of this. Apparently (and I'm not singling out homosexuals so don't think I judge).. What she was saying was that there would be these parties where homosexuals would have sex with people they KNEW had HIV trying to contract the virus and the people with HIV were only too happy to oblige and called themselves Gift Givers.

What in the world would anyone contract the virus on purpose. I, personally, take HIV/AIDS very seriously and can't understand why someone would want to make themselves sick. Does anyone have any insight on this? I am truly perplexed. Thanks.. (and sorry if this post doesn't belong here) - Thanks for reading!
Diagnosed : October 2012
CD4 count high
Viral load 19,600
Started Stribild
Viral load is now undetectable

Offline friskyguy

  • Member
  • Posts: 109
Best to google the internet for information if interested in this issue
Sero converted Sept '10 / Confirmed + Dec '10
Jan '11, VL 9,500 / CD4 482 (32%)
Feb '11, VL 5,800 / CD4 680 (37%)
start Atripla
Mch '11, VL UD / CD4 700 (42%)
Jun  '11, VL UD / CD4 750 (43%)
swap to Kivexa and Efav. due to osteopenia diag. (DEXA) / kidney issues ( decline in eGFR to 77 )
start supplements - Vit D3 / Omega 3 / multivitamin / mini aspirin
Dec '11,  VL UD <20 /  CD4 670 (49%)  / CD4:CD8 = 1.4
all labs now within normal ranges
Mch '12,  VL UD / CD4 600 (51%)
Sep '12,  VL UD / CD4 810 (51%)
Mch '13   VL UD / CD4 965 (56%)
Sep '13   VL UD / CD4 (not taken)
Dec '13   VL UD / CD4 901 (35%) / CD4:CD8 = 1.1  /  eGFR > 100

Offline mecch

  • Member
  • Posts: 13,455
  • red pill? or blue pill?
It was more of a controversy in the early 2000's.  I guess it was more of a phenomenon then. As your reaction is pretty standard, you can imagine the scandal, anger, bewilderment and sadness this topic can cause.

You claim to take HIV very seriously.  The people who supposedly did this (do this?) take HIV very very seriously as well. They are obsessed with it and have a fetishised relationship to both the HIV virus, and the status of being an HIV+ person. 

Its a fetish.  I agree with frisky guy. If you want to learn about it, google some articles.  Everyone has done writing about it. Gay publications, science journals, etc etc.  Even the wiki entry about it lays out the basic parameters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugchasing

Getting insight into ANY fetish or outrageous behavior does not require the observer to accept it or condone it.  But it does require an open mind, to listen to and consider the reasons people give for what they do.  Actions most people would consider bizarre, repulsive, pathological, criminal, suicidal, whatever....   With that in mind, it won't be so "perplexing".  Though maybe many such human behaviours stay, looking for the deepest rationale, mysteries; I agree there.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2013, 09:26:11 am by mecch »
“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

Offline Jeff G

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 17,064
  • How am I doing Beren ?
We don't have a I want to be living with HIV forum but this topic didn't fit off topic , so I put it here .

HIV 101 - Basics
HIV 101
You can read more about Transmission and Risks here:
HIV Transmission and Risks
You can read more about Testing here:
HIV Testing
You can read more about Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) here:
HIV TasP
You can read more about HIV prevention here:
HIV prevention
You can read more about PEP and PrEP here
PEP and PrEP

Offline Miss Philicia

  • Member
  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
We don't have a I want to be living with HIV forum

Now that I think of it this oversight by our governing committee is rather discriminatory. Bug chasers are people too, you know -- with needs.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline newt

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,900
  • the one and original newt
Clearly the giver of the seminar was there in person, so can attest to the truth of this phenomenon on at least 1 occasion.

- matt
"The object is to be a well patient, not a good patient"

Offline darryaz

  • Member
  • Posts: 450
I'm hoping that in this day and age those two personas would have all but disappeared, especially since treat seems to be able to prevent passing HIV on to a partner.

My impression (and feel free to correct me).......

The bug chaser feels a sense of hopelessness and assumes he will eventually become infected with HIV.  So rather than waiting for it to happen, he actively seeks it out.

The gift giver is resentful about the fact he became infected and as "revenge against the world" he infects unsuspecting (or maybe completely willing) negative people.

That's the way I understand this thing to work.  Again, please correct me if I've given wrong or incomplete information.

Offline OneTampa

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,021
  • "Butterflies are free."
I heard about this bug chaser behavior several years ago. So, it's still happening apparently.

Talk about the "gift that keeps on giving".
"He is my oldest child. The shy and retiring one over there with the Haitian headdress serving pescaíto frito."

Offline thepostergirl

  • Member
  • Posts: 29
Thanks for all your comments. I WILL go check this out on wikipedia and other links that might bring some insight but I think
I'm hoping that in this day and age those two personas would have all but disappeared, especially since treat seems to be able to prevent passing HIV on to a partner.

My impression (and feel free to correct me).......

The bug chaser feels a sense of hopelessness and assumes he will eventually become infected with HIV.  So rather than waiting for it to happen, he actively seeks it out.

The gift giver is resentful about the fact he became infected and as "revenge against the world" he infects unsuspecting (or maybe completely willing) negative people.

That's the way I understand this thing to work.  Again, please correct me if I've given wrong or incomplete information.



This made the most sense to me and I have a better understanding regardless of my own personal feelings or beliefs. I need to keep an open mind. Thanks!
Diagnosed : October 2012
CD4 count high
Viral load 19,600
Started Stribild
Viral load is now undetectable

Offline Joe K

  • Standard
  • Member
  • Posts: 5,821
  • 31 Years Poz
I suggest you watch "The Gift" (link below) which is a documentary that helps to explain the whole bug chaser mentality and not in ways you might expect.  With something as complicated as seeking to become HIV, there is never an easy answer and some reasons, are beyond the comprehension of most folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKCcr_ayvMo

Joe

Offline Jeff G

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 17,064
  • How am I doing Beren ?
I refuse the persistent invitations to join Entomologists against condoms at yahoo groups . 
HIV 101 - Basics
HIV 101
You can read more about Transmission and Risks here:
HIV Transmission and Risks
You can read more about Testing here:
HIV Testing
You can read more about Treatment-as-Prevention (TasP) here:
HIV TasP
You can read more about HIV prevention here:
HIV prevention
You can read more about PEP and PrEP here
PEP and PrEP

Offline jkinatl2

  • Member
  • Posts: 6,007
  • Doo. Dah. Dipp-ity.
I suggest you watch "The Gift" (link below) which is a documentary that helps to explain the whole bug chaser mentality and not in ways you might expect.  With something as complicated as seeking to become HIV, there is never an easy answer and some reasons, are beyond the comprehension of most folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKCcr_ayvMo

Joe
'

Thank, Joe! I was thinking the exact same thing and trying to hunt down that link when you posted.

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline tednlou2

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,730
I remember seeing this documentary on HBO, or some station.  When watching on youtube, just avoid the comments. 

Offline Oceanbeach

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,564
Hey Postergirl,

A family I knew in L.A. had 3 suicides in 3 years, each on Valentines Day.  Chrissy took an overdose of sleeping pills after showing me his Marilyn Monroe memorabilia.  We planned a fund raiser memorial with Suicide Prevention as benefactor.  Suicide Prevention of Southern California did not send a representative but...

Our friend Jack who was the son of a Producer at Desilu Studios brought a really young and really cute guy.  My BF picked him up at the Funeral.  Over the next few months his Mom, her BF and his straight brother would hang out at all the gay bars.  They were looking for a man with means to take care of their cute gay boy who wasn't very bright...  He asked me one night if I would fuck him because he wanted to die.  That was 14 years ago and I'm not dead and do not have a BF who would pick up someone at a funeral. 8)  Have the best day
Michael

Offline oksikoko

  • Member
  • Posts: 690
  • Writing the congressman again
Apparently (and I'm not singling out homosexuals so don't think I judge).. What she was saying was that there would be these parties where homosexuals would have sex with people they KNEW had HIV trying to contract the virus and the people with HIV were only too happy to oblige and called themselves Gift Givers.

What in the world would anyone contract the virus on purpose. I, personally, take HIV/AIDS very seriously and can't understand why someone would want to make themselves sick. Does anyone have any insight on this? I am truly perplexed. Thanks.. (and sorry if this post doesn't belong here) - Thanks for reading!

Oh, I think some of us have some insights into that. This isn't the appropriate forum. ;)

But, yes, Virginia, there is such a thing as a bug chaser. I doubt most of us/them/whoever understand you any more than you understand us/them/whoever.
Code: [Select]
2014-11-14: CD4 Wars Episode II: Return of the Stribild (released in Europe as Stribild II: Werewolf Bitch)
2014-11-06:                ☣ VL (→) 12,627      ☣ CD4 (→) 639
2014-??-??: off treatment  ☣ VL (?)              ☣ CD4 (?)
2013-10-03:                ☣ VL (=) undetectable ☣ CD4 (+) 1105
2013-05-23:                ☣ VL (=) undetectable ☣ CD4 (-) 945
2013-02-25:                ☣ VL (-) undetectable ☣ CD4 (+) 1123
2012-12-16: Enter Stribild
2012-11-20: HIV+           ☣ VL (→) 132,683      ☣ CD4 (→) 920
2012-04-01: HIV-
Dates in this signature file conform to ISO 8601. ;-)

If no one complains, nothing will ever change.

Offline mecch

  • Member
  • Posts: 13,455
  • red pill? or blue pill?
The conversation so far has been thoughtful and civilised.  Seems an appropriate forum to me.
“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
The conversation so far has been thoughtful and civilised.  Seems an appropriate forum to me.

It was originally posted in Off Topic.
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline thepostergirl

  • Member
  • Posts: 29
Thanks for all the insightful information. I appreciate you all.
Diagnosed : October 2012
CD4 count high
Viral load 19,600
Started Stribild
Viral load is now undetectable

Offline Basquo

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,385
Apparently (and I'm not singling out homosexuals so don't think I judge).. What she was saying was that there would be these parties where homosexuals

Why would you need to judge with an introduction like that? Unless she said that there were also "these parties where heterosexuals," she's singled out the homosexuals for you.

Offline thepostergirl

  • Member
  • Posts: 29
I suggest you watch "The Gift" (link below) which is a documentary that helps to explain the whole bug chaser mentality and not in ways you might expect.  With something as complicated as seeking to become HIV, there is never an easy answer and some reasons, are beyond the comprehension of most folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKCcr_ayvMo

Joe

thanks for the link -
Diagnosed : October 2012
CD4 count high
Viral load 19,600
Started Stribild
Viral load is now undetectable

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2024 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.