So, you suspect someone close to you has bulimia. You are worried, angry, trying to convince yourself that it was just your imagination and that the stressful life of modern schoolchildren or students is simply making itself felt. What to do?

The best thing to do is to make your guesses the subject of open discussion. Wrong decisions are to try to hush up what is happening, or to “take the bull by the horns” with a direct question: “Are you vomiting after eating? Do you know how harmful this is?

Believe me, your daughter or little sister knows how harmful this is. If they don’t know for sure, then they guess - the body itself speaks about it every time. She is very vulnerable now, she feels bad and she needs your help and support. Not a criticism. Not your concern. Support. If you cannot provide it, do not start this conversation, transfer these functions to another family member or specialist.

You can't be bulimic and not suffer from it. Don't increase the amount of suffering your loved one suffers.

To begin with, it is important to clearly understand: what happens to your loved one is not his personal choice - no one chooses to become diabetic, no one chooses to get a cute eating disorder in order to torment his family. This is a disease that requires careful and careful treatment. This means that if your loved one is a bulimic, they cannot “stop fooling around and start eating normally.” To say something like that is to forever destroy any possible trust between you.

Bulimia cannot be “caught” from diet-minded friends or learned from glamorous fashion magazines. Inducing vomiting is an extremely unpleasant and anti-physiological process for most people. Moreover, many people are simply unable to induce vomiting artificially, and if for some it becomes a source of calm and relaxation, it is only because some people are born with a predisposition to bulimia.

There is no definitive “right” or “wrong” way to talk to someone with an eating disorder, and different approaches will work for different people.

1. Prepare. Be informed.

The most important thing you can do when talking to someone with bulimia is to prepare and learn as much as you can about eating disorders. The person you are worried about may be experiencing tremendous anxiety, shame, embarrassment, guilt, fear of rejection, or may not even know that they have an eating problem. It is important to take these features into account and be prepared for the fact that your interlocutor may respond with aggression or refusal. Feeling angry or refusing to admit that something is wrong does not mean there is no problem.

2. Don't be violent.

Don't insist. Say something like, “I understand this is hard for you to talk about right now. Okay, I want you to know that I'm ready to talk about this whenever you can."

3. Find safe place and good timing.

Any attempt at conversation should be conducted in a caring manner, in an environment that supports open and calm conversation. Good idea- talk when you are home alone. Don't have this conversation over a meal if you're tired, angry, or feeling unwell.

4. Use the right language.

When you interact with someone with bulimia, you need to be aware of their fear of having their behavior or feelings discovered. Make it clear that you care about him, want to help him cope with his problems, and will support him at all stages of the treatment process:

• Try to use “I” statements, such as “I want to help you” or “I’m worried about you”;
• try to make the environment comfortable for the interlocutor and let him know that it is safe to talk with you;
• if necessary, express your willingness to keep everything secret from other family members;
• encourage him to express his feelings: how your interlocutor feels is more important than expressing your feelings;
• Express your love and acceptance to him (“How difficult it was for you”, “My dear girl...”, “My beloved baby...”) while you talk about his feelings - do not rush the conversation;
• listen carefully to the person, sympathize with him, make it clear that you are not going to judge or criticize him;
• encourage him to seek help and explain that you will be there every step of the way;
• express optimism, confidence that this can be dealt with and that you can be relied upon.

If you are talking with someone close and important to you, you should avoid the following:

• Avoid talking about symptoms associated with food (“Can’t you really not vomit?”), instead try to talk about the feelings of the interlocutor (“I understand how scary it can be to gain even a kilogram”);
• do not use language that implies that the person is to blame or is doing something wrong, for example: “You make me crazy with anxiety”, rather say “I worry about you”;
• do not make your experiences the main thing; the fact that you are worried, upset or angry is unpleasant, but cannot be compared with what your interlocutor is experiencing;
• try not to take the position of a therapist and do not dominate the conversation, you do not have to know all the answers, it is much more important to listen and give the person space to talk;
• Avoid manipulation, such as: “Think about what you are doing to me” or “If you loved me, you would eat normally.” This can worsen eating disorder symptoms and may make it difficult for a person to admit their problems;
• Do not under any circumstances devalue: “Get all this nonsense out of your head, you are not fat, you will not gain weight, pull yourself together and eat like a human from tomorrow”;
• Do not use threatening statements, for example: “If you don’t eat properly, I will take away your computer.” This can be extremely harmful to emotions and behavior and can markedly worsen eating problems.

5. Don't give up.

Talking about topics that cause shame, fear, tension is very difficult even for close people. Don't give up. Gather all your love and affection for the person you are going to talk to. Make it clear that your willingness to listen, understand, support is limitless, that you will not get angry, burst into tears, faint, or vomit in disgust, and most importantly, you will not abandon your interlocutor. If the conversation doesn’t go well the first time, back off, wait a couple of weeks, but no longer. And start again.

Before such a conversation, it can be very useful to consult with specialists who work with people suffering from bulimia in order to better prepare psychologically and gather all the necessary information about possible treatment.

With partial use of materials from the National Eating Disorders Collaboration ©
Translation - Ksenia Syrokvashina, Center for Intuitive Eating IntuEat ©

We are constantly surrounded by many people, and being able to distinguish between the bad and the good is extremely important. Unfortunately, many of us know from personal experience that some people are not as sincere as they seem, writes Higher Perspective.

It hurts to find out that a friend, colleague or even family member is a fake.

Fortunately, there are some signs that fake people inevitably exhibit throughout their lives:

1. They try to become favorites.

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Fake people try to make people around them fall in love with them no matter what.

This is one of the most obvious signs. They will work harder than others when it comes to asserting themselves.

A true friend will always remain himself, even when there are a lot of people around.

2. They crave attention.

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Fake people love to be the center of attention. Not only are they working to make everyone fall in love with them, but they are also competing for their full attention.

If you have a person in your life who can't stand it when others pay more attention than themselves, then this is a clear sign that they are a fake.

3. They love to show off.

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We already know that insincere people crave attention, but because of this, they also like to show off themselves in a favorable light as often as possible.

Everyone can show their best side from time to time, but anyone who goes beyond the bounds of decency is most likely a pretender.

But don't get confused: if your friend just understands some things and likes to talk about it, it doesn’t mean anything; a fake person will advertise himself as if he is the most expensive and valuable commodity.

4. They gossip constantly.

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Okay, gossip is something natural, and we all allow ourselves to speak out about others from time to time. However, fake people will gossip with almost everyone all the time.

Such people want to turn negative attention away from themselves.

If you know an ardent gossip, stop him and ask him not to talk about others behind their backs - at the same time, look at his reaction.

5. They love to criticize others.

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A fake person is too critical. In no case will he praise others, since he himself wants to look good against the background of their mistakes.

If he's praising someone else, then it's likely to benefit him in the first place (or make him look better).

Do you know such a person? His real essence was revealed?

Old people, like children, often get lost. The faster they are found, the greater the chance that they will be alive. How to understand that a grandmother or grandfather is at risk of getting lost, and what to do if this does happen, is in our material.

If grandma forgets what she ate for breakfast and whether she took pills, loved ones should be especially attentive. Over time, age-related mental disorders progress: first, short-term memory is lost, and then problems with getting home begin.

A person will go to the store, but suddenly forget how to get back. In more severe stages, people with dementia and other disorders may forget who they are, fail to recognize relatives, become taciturn and sometimes aggressive. If a person left and got lost once, most likely it will happen again.

If at the first stage of disturbances the consciousness of the lost still obeys some kind of logic - they realize that they are lost and are looking for a way home, then at a later stage they can follow a route that they have not used for many years, for example, go to where they worked in youth. At later stages, their movement becomes more chaotic.

The Lisa Alert search and rescue team recommends starting to look for a person as soon as he goes missing, regardless of whether he is an adult or a child.

You need to file a police report (“Lisa Alert” also begins searching in the city precisely if there is a police report), follow the route that the missing person should have taken.

“You shouldn’t wait for the person to return on his own. The more time passes, the further away the missing people go, as well as the witnesses who could identify them and say something. If a lot of time passes, the dog will no longer pick up the trail. Now there are cameras almost everywhere, but the recordings on them will be covered by later ones,” say the detachment.

There is no “three day” rule for accepting a statement to the police and starting a search. Any person, even a neighbor, can file a missing person's report; family ties with the missing person are not required.

Nursing home staff often talk about how one or another grandmother with dementia goes to milk a cow that she has no longer had for a long time. Habits from the past can resurface in the brain at unexpected times.

If old man disappeared, you need to look for it on those routes that were automated for humans many years ago: the road to work, childhood home, etc.

If a grandmother or grandfather becomes ill on the street, an ambulance can pick them up. A lost person may end up in a hospital without documents and not remember his name or identify himself illegibly.

The hospital is required to photograph unidentified patients, describe their signs, and forward them to the police. But, unfortunately, this is not always done. Lisa Alert information systems know how to call hospitals, but the help of relatives in this area can be very useful. Calling once is usually not enough - you need to distribute directions to hospitals (a person can be admitted to the hospital after calling the search engines) and constantly continue calling. It is imperative to go to a place where there is hope of identifying loved one.

If you get lost in the city Small child, this becomes obvious immediately, but an elderly person may not be noticeable for a long time. Volunteers tell how to recognize a “lost” person in an elderly person you meet on the street.

“Firstly, a person may be inappropriately dressed. If a grandmother walks down the street in slippers and a robe, it is likely that she needs help. Often lost people themselves realize that they have come somewhere wrong, they ask passers-by or in stores for directions, and ask for help. We kindly ask you not to pay for their travel and not to put them on trains and buses, otherwise we will later find them (if we find them) at the other end of the country. The journey can drag on and lead to a cemetery of unclaimed bodies, a person will be listed as missing, and loved ones will be tormented and knocked down. If a seemingly lost person turns to you for help, you need to call 112 and wait for the police brigade (an ambulance will not pick up a person without evidence) and spend time with this person. Ideally, you also need to take a photograph of the lost person, write down where and who took him, and let us know - if there is a similar request, we will respond instantly. We had a case when a girl saw directions at the station, and five minutes later the same grandfather came up to her and asked for help. She recognized him, took a photograph, contacted us, and his relatives immediately went to see her,” says the Lisa Alert PSO.

During the mushroom and berry season, the number of missing elderly people increases several times. Everyone gets lost in the forest: young people, children, and grandparents. A significant part of those whom search engines are looking for are mushroom pickers who are confident that they know the forest like the back of their hand.

Lost in the forest, a person cannot move in a straight line without special equipment, although it seems to him that he is walking straight. There are special techniques for this, but older people do not know them. A compass helps, but, as practice shows, even those who carry it with them do not know how to use it.

As a rule, when older people realize that they are lost, they get scared and adrenaline releases. In this state, they can climb into a windfall that would be impossible to enter without special equipment. And after that, the adrenaline usually ends suddenly, but the windfall does not.

Search engines give some tips on how to equip your grandfather for mushrooms:

– ask to describe the proposed route;
– take water and a whistle with you;
– wrap the matches in polyethylene;
– charge mobile phone;
- wear bright clothes.

Finding a person in camouflage if he is already lying on the ground is many times more difficult than in a bright signal vest that can be bought at any gas station.

“Grandmothers and grandfathers go into the forest “for an hour” - often without their pills or water. It happens that they begin to have problems related to their illnesses, so we find them in various states, even paralysis. Many go into the forest without a phone (we find them, ask why they don’t have a phone, they answer: “So that it doesn’t get lost”),” say the search engines.

It is much easier to find a person with a charged mobile phone. For example, when the Angel Helicopter Squad takes part in a search, they fly over the approximate search square and ask a person to telephone when the helicopter is over them. Hearing the drone of their helicopter in the tube, they report the coordinates to a group of searchers on foot.

There is not always cellular communication in the forest, but even if there is no network and no money on your balance, and indeed without a SIM card, you can call 112.

If your close relative is confused in space and time, search engines recommend purchasing modern devices. For example, you can buy a watch with a GPS tracker.

Notes with the names of him and his relatives, their addresses and telephone numbers should be placed in all the pockets of the elderly person’s clothes. You can make patches on clothing with this information.

It is better to register the SIM card in the phone of a person with age-related impairments of consciousness to his relatives. Otherwise, if he goes missing, search engines will only be able to obtain information about his phone by a court decision, and this takes time. It is also recommended to connect all location services available from the operator. The phone itself should be clear and convenient for the elderly owner.

If one of your loved ones is missing, you can contact the Lisa Alert search and rescue team by calling 8-800-700-54-52 (the call is free throughout Russia).

Based on portal materials

Depression is a medical condition characterized by a persistent state of sadness and loss of interest in activities that are usually rewarding, as well as an inability to do everyday activities, for at least two weeks. In addition, people with depression typically have several of the following symptoms: lack of energy, decreased appetite, drowsiness or insomnia, anxiety, decreased concentration, indecisiveness, restlessness, feelings of worthlessness, guilt or despair, and thoughts of self-harm harm or suicide. Depression is not a sign of weakness, as it can happen to anyone.

What can you do if you think you are depressed?

• Share your feelings with someone you trust. Most people feel better after talking to someone who cares about them.
• Seek help from a specialist. To begin with, it is appropriate to contact your local or family doctor.
• Remember that with the right help, you can get better.
• Continue to do the things that brought you satisfaction before you got sick.
• Avoid self-isolation. Stay in touch with family and friends.
• Exercise regularly physical exercise, even if it’s just a short walk.
• Maintain a normal diet and sleep schedule.
• Accept that you may be depressed and adjust your expectations accordingly. In this state, you may not have the strength to do all the things as much as before.
• Avoid or eliminate alcohol consumption and refrain from using illicit psychotropic or narcotic drugs, as they may worsen depression.
• If you are having suicidal thoughts, seek help from someone immediately.

What to do if someone close to you is depressed?

• Make it clear that you want to help, listen to the person without judgment, and offer support.
• Read about depression.
• Advise the patient to see a specialist if possible. Offer to go to counseling with him.
• If the doctor prescribed medications, help the patient comply with the prescribed course of treatment. Be patient: as a rule, improvement does not occur earlier than after a few weeks.
• Help the person do daily activities and maintain eating and sleeping patterns.
• Promote regular physical activity and participation in social life.
• Advise you to focus on positive things rather than negative ones.
• If a person has thoughts of harming themselves, or if they have already intentionally harmed themselves, do not leave them alone. Contact services emergency care or see a specialist doctor. In the meantime, take medicines, sharps and firearms from him.
• Don't forget about yourself. Try to rest and continue doing things you enjoy.

Remember: depression can be treated with talk therapy or antidepressants, or a combination of the two. If you think you or someone you love is depressed, get help.

more often than students with fewer partners (Baldwin & Baldwin, 1988). Similarly, a survey of 350 students at a large east coast university found that most had little or no concern about the possibility of HIV infection; many believed that they would definitely feel that a prospective sexual partner was “unsafe.” Some of the respondents simply flaunted the fact that they do not use condoms. Safe sex, in their opinion, does not bring pleasure (Caron, McMullen, 1987).

This attitude seems to be typical for everyone. American students. The director of medical services at a large Midwestern university, insisting on his anonymity, commented on the matter as follows:

"Our students act as if the AIDS epidemic has not reached this part of the country. We can judge this by the sharp rise in the epidemic of chlamydial infections, which serve as a kind of indicator of sexual promiscuity. Meanwhile, no one knows what Last year Five of our students were diagnosed with HIV infection. The university president has forbidden anyone to talk about it because he fears that if it gets out, the university's sponsorship will decrease dramatically. (From the authors' files)

The situation in the dormitories does not seem unusual: it very accurately reflects the overall picture. We have not yet succeeded in engaging the entire population in the fight against the HIV epidemic. This is largely due to the fact that Americans receive ambiguous information, diluted information, and often do not receive any information necessary for them to change their behavior (Shilts, 1987; Masters, Johnson, Kolodny, 1988; Turner, Miller, Moses, 1989). Politicians and religious leaders have blocked many efforts to create general educational literature on AIDS, believing that it would be too sexually explicit; AIDS programs for schoolchildren were often rejected because they were “immoral.” The only advice, according to such moralists, that can be given to those who want to protect themselves from AIDS is to completely abstain from sexual contact. In some student dormitories, condom machines were removed for fear of offending the feelings of believers. Until people are offered a more robust education program about HIV/AIDS, the epidemic is likely to grow at an alarming rate.

If someone close to you has AIDS

When a deadly disease like AIDS strikes a family member or loved one, you want to help them with all your heart, but you don't know how. We offer you some specific tips.

First of all, try to visit the patient as often as before (or maybe even more often). However, be sure to call him first. Let him or her decide for themselves whether they want to see anyone at this particular time.

Offer a variety of help. Washing dishes, buying groceries or cleaning the apartment may seem like small tasks, but such help for the sick is more than “just” preparing dinner or everyday housework.

Remember that loneliness can be especially difficult to cope with during the holidays. (This is even more difficult if the person is in the hospital.) Therefore, visiting these days is especially important. great importance: it will help your friend feel involved in the holiday. And skillfully selected decorations, sweets or gifts associated with this holiday will remind you of your feelings even after you leave.

You should not discuss in detail the health status of your friend or relative and methods of treatment, but at the same time, you should not pretend that the disease does not exist. Questions like “How are you?” are certainly appropriate (just as they would be appropriate with any other illness). Introduce news from the outside world into your conversations to help your friend avoid feeling completely isolated and detached. Talk to him or her about common friends, discuss the success or failure of his favorite sports team and current events in the country and the world. Touch your friend. Hug him, kiss him, put your hand on his shoulder - it means more to him than you can imagine.

Do not lie to the patient that he will groom perfectly, but you should not tell him the whole truth - tactful gentleness must be observed in all respects. If you try, you can always focus on something optimistic, even if optimism has to be expressed in the form of hopes for the future: “I bet things will be better by the end of the week.” Do not try to give advice if you think that your friend is not approaching his illness in the way you would think is right. You cannot imagine exactly what is going on in his soul. Be prepared for the fact that sometimes your friend or relative may become angry with you, even though you were trying to help. In such cases, do not take his anger as

directed at you personally. An outburst may simply be a desire to throw out a feeling of inadequacy and helplessness. In a sense, such an outburst can be seen as an acknowledgment by your friend that he understands the depth of your sympathy and that is why he allows himself to get angry, confident that you cannot interpret his behavior in the wrong sense.

Try to stay in touch with other people who play an important role in your friend or relative's life. This will help you keep abreast of successes (or complications) on the medical front and will give you the opportunity to offer help to the patient when he may need it, but he himself is embarrassed to ask for it. For example, your friend's spouse or lover may need someone to step in to care for someone who is sick for a while. You can offer to release her on a Saturday afternoon, for example, so she can do her own thing. If a patient has accepted AIDS, this does not mean that he has given up on life. By acknowledging the reality of the illness, he can free himself from feelings of confusion and uncertainty; Moreover, in this way he can gain confidence in his own abilities.

If you are particularly close to a friend or relative, be aware that you may need support or advice yourself. Many AIDS organizations have support groups you can join to do just this.

When AIDS becomes a fact of your life

This letter was written by a young man, 3 months after he was diagnosed with AIDS. Information that could have identified the author was removed from the letter.

My first reaction to this news, as you understand, was shock and confusion. I knew that this mysterious plague threatened us all, but nevertheless I never thought that it would happen to me. Let's start with the fact that I chose my partners quite carefully. A few years ago I gave up casual relationships and did this not out of fear of some kind of germs, but for aesthetic reasons. I was not at all afraid of them, but they hid, waiting for the right moment to get me.

I I spent more than one week trying to decide who betrayed me. In the end, I settled on three possible candidates, but then I realized the pointlessness of this game of detective, and I began to be more occupied with practical matters. I wrote a will, talked to my closest friends and tried to get used to the idea that I had, at best, two years to live.

I I want to be honest with you and I must admit that the thought of suicide has crossed my mind more than once. I told my parents that I had a rare form of leukemia, because if they knew about the true diagnosis, it would probably kill them both.

While I was in the hospital, I began to notice that people were trying to avoid me in every possible way. Nurses, orderlies and attendants who served food ran into the ward and immediately ran out, as if by stopping to talk to me they could immediately become infected; even my doctor maintained a certain distance between us. This isolation, which I now had to accept, was perhaps most clearly demonstrated by the fact that very few, even among my friends, could bear eye contact with me: when I looked them straight in the eye, they looked away, as if they were ashamed or scary.

Before my illness I was not a believer, but Lately I began to pray a lot. I have no choice but to hope for a miracle; my chances of getting out of this are one in a million. If this directness is too harsh for you, then think about how it feels for me. Now I know how a person sentenced to death feels as he awaits the day of his execution.

Perhaps my fellow gay men are in turmoil because this terrible epidemic is turning the clock back. However, now I find it difficult to think about equal rights and the gay movement. For me, equal rights would have to mean the opportunity to live. If this is selfishness, then I am afraid that in me it is expressed in extreme form.

Problems facing society

The story of the early years of the HIV epidemic, detailed in Randy Shilts's 1987 book And the Band Played On, is in many ways a tragic tale. In the fight against a deadly disease, lives were lost and valuable time was lost due to homophobia, complacency and the relative inaction of federal authorities. Thus, in 1983, Time quoted the words of Donald Curie, who at that time was the head of the Kaposi's sarcoma hotline in San Francisco: If AIDS killed not gays, but Boy Scouts, there would be no money for scientific research. there would have been much more research" (Time, March 28, 1983). Meanwhile, almost 5 more years passed before the government allocated funds for AIDS research (Winkenwerder, Kessler, Stolec, 1989). Back in 1990, Larry Kramer, founder Gay Men's Health Crisis Foundation, said: "I am very afraid that the war against AIDS is already lost. It is impossible to understand why in a seemingly civilized country in our time there is such tolerance for such non-stop destruction of life" (Kramer, 1990) .

Even today, attitudes towards this disease are largely determined by homophobia. However, there is another reason for our failure to control the HIV epidemic. For many years, we have focused on protecting people's privacy rights at the expense of public health concerns. In addition, much-needed research into sexual behavior was either delayed or rejected for purely political reasons.

In such a confusing situation, when different groups societies advocate for or against certain decisions, it may be very difficult for an individual to make right choice. The following discussion of some of the cardinal issues surrounding AIDS is based on the findings National Institute health, many scientific and public organizations. As a result of long discussions in the early 1990s. It was possible to reach a consensus on the actions that need to be taken to bring the HIV/AIDS epidemic under control.

Education and scientific research

It is absolutely clear that science alone cannot stop the AIDS epidemic (even if a vaccine were created tomorrow, it would take years to test and put into production), so it is important to do everything possible to prevent people from helping HIV infection through their behavior spread. Educational activities should not be limited to simply stating facts, but should encourage people to change behavior.

We consider it obligatory to create and implement broad educational programs, as well as carry out a number of organizational activities aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the fight against AIDS

(Masters, Johnson, Kolodny, 1988).

1. It is necessary to develop curriculum on AIDS for schools. This program should begin long before teenagers begin sex life, i.e. no later than fourth or fifth grade.

2. Should be prepared special programs for high-risk groups (drug addicts, homo- and bisexuals, prostitutes, as well as heterosexuals who are promiscuous). In addition, it is necessary to have special programs for the disabled (blind and deaf), as well as for the illiterate.

3. Responsible sexual behavior should be promoted in every possible way in the media. Show business and sports stars should be involved in this campaign - all those who often appear on the screen and enjoy special trust among teenagers and young people.

4. All colleges and universities should provide their students with counseling services to help them avoid HIV infections.

5. To coordinate all these educational activities, a special department should be created within the Ministry of Health with sufficient staff and authority to enable its employees to successfully perform these functions. In addition, it is imperative that AIDS research, which has made some progress in understanding the problem, continues and develops.

Survey

In the early days of the HIV epidemic, the idea of ​​mass HIV testing faced significant resistance, with doubts expressed about the reliability of blood testing methods that existed at the time and the legality of invasion of privacy. Many have asked themselves the question: “What is the point of getting tested if there is no treatment that could prolong my life?” Today, this issue is viewed very differently: according to most experts, literally everyone exposed to the risk of infection should undergo confidential testing on a voluntary basis (L6 et al., 1989; Francis et al., 1989; Curran 1989; Cohen, Sande, Volberding , 1990).

The reasons for this change in position are clear. First, the accuracy of HIV testing has improved significantly. Secondly, concerns about violation of the confidentiality of test results have been greatly reduced, since many states have passed laws that specifically address this point: they have created points where anonymous analyzes are carried out. And most importantly, early diagnosis of HIV infection is the only way to prevent (or at least delay) serious complications of AIDS and prolong life (Arno et al., 1989; Redfield, 1989; Francis et al., 1989; Friedland, 1990) .

The ability to conduct a confidential AIDS test is of great benefit. So, in many cases, people who suspect they have AIDS, having done tests, find out that they are not infected, calm down and make important decisions (get married, have a child, etc.). If a person discovers that he is infected, he can: 1) protect his sexual partner from infection; 2) organize the appropriate medical care; 3) avoid situations in which he is exposed to the risk of additional HIV infection; 4) make a number of decisions related to work, finances, insurance, etc. Of course, large-scale verification also has a number of disadvantages. First of all, a positive result can cause psychological shock or deep depression in a person, while it cannot be completely ruled out that the positive result will be erroneous. Another disadvantage is that since absolute confidentiality is not guaranteed, you may have problems identifying virus carriers. For example, a person who tests positive for HIV will not be accepted for military service. Over time, such a person will find it difficult to conclude an agreement on certain types of insurance.

Making AIDS testing generally available is a benefit to society as a whole. Health care leaders gain a clearer understanding of trends in the HIV epidemic and can better plan costs and address the provision of needed health services.

Currently, the United States has legalized testing of blood, organ and tissue donors, as well as military personnel; Efforts to mandate testing for people marrying failed in Illinois and Louisiana and have now been abandoned. Prenatal HIV testing, which some experts have insisted is necessary, has not yet been introduced in most states and is unlikely to be introduced in

coming years (Minkoff et al., 1988).

Measures to protect public health

Contact identification and notification. One of the most well-known, time-tested public health strategies is to identify all sexual partners of people with a reportable STD and notify them of the risk; the source of information is not named (Gostin, 1989). Unfortunately, most states do not currently classify HIV as an STD.