OCD and STD Fun

[nymoozle]

Hey all,

First, some background about me: I'm a 22-year-old grad student, and a virgin. I also was diagnosed with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) back in middle school, and have since recovered from most of the symptoms remarkably well. However, I can only combat OCD when I know the facts, and when it comes to my fear of STDs, I don't know enough facts to tell my OCD to shut up when I start obsessing. One reason I'm a virgin is because I've been very careful when it comes to STDs.

Anyway, yesterday, I was making out with a girl I'm dating; I was wearing jeans and underwear, and she was wearing underwear under a dress. She gets very wet, and  there were some moments when the crotch area of my jeans may have been in direct contact with her wet underwear. After this, I got up to pee, and touched my penis after possibly touching the area of my jeans that touched her wet underwear.

Question 1: Should I be worried at all about yesterday, both with regard to skin-transferable STDs and fluid-transferable STDs? I hope not, because god help me when I try to actually have sex!

Question 2: Are STDs really as transmittable as I'm making them out to be? I.e. I have this notion that if I touched a part of my jeans that touched her wet underwear, and then touch my penis, I could get something. If they *were* that easily transmittable, wouldn't the entire world have HIV and other STDs? If I have no reason to worry about A to B to C transfers like this, could you explain why? Perhaps there needs to be a significant amount of fluid for there to be any risk (in the case of STDs that transfer via fluid)? Thoughts?

Thanks everyone!

[nymoozle]

Hey AJ,

Thanks for the reply! I used to be in therapy and on medication for OCD, but I've actually been doing amazingly well, and have essentially made my OCD almost non-existent just by thinking things through and being rational. So don't worry about me :)

Again, the reason I'm so nervous about STDs is that there is so much STD panic out there that it's very hard from me to separate legitimate concerns from illegitimate ones.

Anyone else's corroboration of AJ's comment would be really beneficial to me! Thanks again!

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

1 - Nope.

2 - Not even close.  Your reasoning is exactly right - if they were that easy to go from A to B to C, every person would have something.  In order to get an std, you have to have oral to genital/anal, genital to genital, or genital to anal contact, and this has to be direct contact.  If you have clothing on, its not direct.  

STDs are all very fragile, and don't live well outside their environs.  They also don't travel through clothing.

Some stds are transferred via fluids - chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV, NGU, for example.  Others - herpes, syphilis, HPV, molluscum - are transferred via the skin, but its via oral, genital or anal skin, and it has to be bare skin - both partners have to have bare skin, and it will take more than a simple touch - some rubbing and friction needs to happen.

For more info on stds, check www.ashastd.org

I hope you are getting help for the OCD, either therapy, meds or both.

AJ