Bug-Chasers & "Gift" Givers

[Revan]

Here's an interesting and controversial topic that I think far as I know, no one has ever brought up. What is your opinion about bug-chasers? Why do they do this? Is it a psychological or mental problem? Is it just stupidity? Is there a underlying cause from a family or friends of a person?

And What about the "Gift" Givers. Obviously it's against the law anyway, but still why do these people do this? Are they idiots? Are they deranged mentally? What do you think?


Oh and for those who are wondering what either are:

Bug-chaser: Bugchasers seek sexual partners who are HIV positive for the purpose of having unprotected sex and seroconversion

"Gift"-givers: giftgivers are HIV positive men who comply with the bugchaser's efforts to become infected with HIV.

PS I brought this up because while I knew what they were before, I read this book called Changing Jamie in which the main character's best friend Billy attends a bug-party and winds up with HIV only to not only be kicked out by the guy he really wanted to date who was HIV poz, but find out what an idiot he was because now he's sick every day, sores in the mouth, diarrhea, and tired all the time. So yeah I just wanted to bring up this topic.

And if anyone is actually thinking they will eventually get it, you won't if you play safe so remember to use condoms (within a relationship or if it's a 'hook-up') and if you can, abstain from sex with someone you are not dating or in love with.

[Shevanel]

This SORTA reminds me of the movie Kids. But the story is more about how the main character doesn't know that he has HIV (or he does?I can't remember). He goes around and fucks many girls uncaringly and without protection (young girls too...), all the while one of the girls he slept with knows that he is HIV positive, because she is too, so she's trying to chase him to tell him this, but by the end of the movie, its too late. But Not really too related I guess...

I think it's still kinda screwed up, especially if you don't care about attaining HIV.

[Phoenix]

These people are fucked up. Plain and simple. Like you have to be unstable emotionally or mentally to want to get something that can, and often does end your life. And you have to be vindictive and downright sociopathic to inflict it on other people and not care at best and think you're doing them a favor at worst.

[Swamp56]

Originally Posted by Phoenix

Like you have to be unstable emotionally or mentally to want to get something that can, and often does end your life. And you have to be vindictive and downright sociopathic to inflict it on other people and not care at best and think you're doing them a favor at worst.

Sociopathy refers to a lack of moral conscience and constant and pervasive actions to do things like steal or hurt people and lying.

While I do agree that someone wouldn't have much moral fiber to be able to do that, because it is done with consent, that might rule out something such as sociopathy. The issue with this disorder is that it is usually solely attributed to a lack of empathy, when in actuality there is more to it.

It sounds more like it might be some sort of fetish.

I've heard that it has something to do with feelings of control. These people believe that they will eventually and inevitably contract HIV (which in todays world is the first absurdity) because they are gay men. Therefore these people seek to gain control of the situation by deciding when they contract the virus instead of having the virus surprise them.

[Chip]

No question it's really fucked up, but I think there are two different motivations going on.

For the bug chasers, it can be an extreme form of attention-seeking behavior; the illusion that by getting HIV, people will feel sorry for them, pay attention to them, etc. It can also be a misguided attempt to eliminate worry; they figure they will get it anyway, so why not get it over with. In nearly every case I've heard about, the bug chaser had extremely low self esteem, so for some, at least, it can be a form of self-punishment. And I could also see it as being a really misguided way to "fit in"; if you are HIV+, then you're automatically part of a group of people, and if you feel like you've never been "accepted", then perhaps there's a (conscious or unconscious) desire to be part of a group.

For the gift-givers, one motivation is anger and vindictiveness; a lashing out because *they* got it and so they want others to go through what they're going through. Another is the same thing that pushes addicts to try to get their friends/boyfriends/girlfriends to do drugs with them; the realization at some level that what they're doing (or the disease they have) isn't healthy, and that, by infecting another person, they "level the playing field" so that person isn't any "better" than they are.

There was an article some years ago on bug chasers, I think it was in Rolling Stone. If I remember the article correctly, there wasn't a single person they interviewed (and there were a bunch) who didn't realize, until after the fact, that they were complete dumbasses for what they did to themselves. Unfortunately, it's one of those things (again, not dissimilar to addiction) that by the time you realize you're being a dumbass, it's often too late.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by LostandFound

I've heard that it has something to do with feelings of control. These people believe that they will eventually and inevitably contract HIV (which in todays world is the first absurdity) because they are gay men. Therefore these people seek to gain control of the situation by deciding when they contract the virus instead of having the virus surprise them.

Yes!

I read a psychological article on this. What many of the bug chasers also believe is that a cure will be found soon enough or that the treatments for the disease aren't as harsh as they actually are. People have survived for 15+ years now thanks to healthy lifestyles and new medicines. But most people die far earlier than that. The chemicals used to fight the disease are horrible. A large number of bug chasers don't realize this.