Experts Are Changing The Way We Talk About STDs
Only 4 STDs are incurable, it’s time for better terminology.
The acronym STD stands for “sexually transmitted disease”. As our culture grows in sex-positive ways, the term disease had begun to be replaced by the word infection.
“We used to call them STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) but we don’t anymore because when we get an infection through sexual contact, we don’t always experience symptoms and the infection may not develop into a disease.” [source]
The word disease is intense. It can be the precursor to another ominous ‘D’ word. I should know my mother died from a disease (cancer) and one of my friends is living with a chronic disease that many people misunderstand as a death sentence (HIV). Yet, when it comes to medical conditions that are sexually transmitted the word “infection” tends to be more accurate. This is why ssex-positive experts have stopped using the term “STD” altogether.
Reducing Stigma: The Psychology of Replacing of STD with STI
One goal of repurposing the term STD is to reduce the stigma of sexually transmitted infections, viruses, and diseases. As mentioned above, most sexual health risks are treatable infections. In fact, out of all the ailments one can…
