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Ask the Experts about Mental Health and HIV
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15 yr. old anxiety about HIV
Oct 20, 2003

My 15-yr.old son fell apart this evening about his worry of having HIV. Evidentally he used his step-mother's vibrator/dildo for anal stimulation while masturbating. He is embarrassed and overwhelmed with guilt and anxiety that this could have possibly transferred HIV. PLEASE HELP me help him. ALso, is this normal experimentation for a teenage boy? Thank you for your help.

Response from Mr. Shernoff

You need to reassure your son that if his step-mother is not HIV infected than he has nothing to worry about. The kind of sexual experimentation that your son did is by all means normal. Though if what you mean by normal is: Is this particular kind of sexual experimentation what a heterosexually-oriented adolescent boy might do? The answer is possibly. If your son is wrestling with issues about his own sexual orientation or even has identified as gay though he may not have yet actually had any sexual encounters with another boy, this kind of sexual experimentation is by all means completely normal.

Michael Shernoff, MSW



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