Personal story: Cebokazi

"I was raised in an environment where I was taught that having sex is a death or pregnancy sentence. Fast-forward to my 3rd year in university, I had unprotected sex once. After that day I didn’t have any peace of mind. The stigmas of STDs literally gave me anxiety attacks. I convinced myself I had one. I have the most supportive friends in the world, but I was so embarrassed to confess such a thing.

My fear of getting tested only made things a lot worse. I Googled HIV for a year. My anxiety was getting out of hand and by this time I already had a boyfriend, so I told him about my fear. With his amazing support I went and got tested.

I tested negative but I feel I need to write something so people don’t go through what I went through. STD stigma is not real, getting tested just means you’ll be able to move on from it. If you test positive, then you can get treatment and life goes on. If you test negative then you know, and life goes on.

Now I look back and think about all the anxiety attacks and damage to my mental health that I could have avoided by just getting tested. HIV is not a death sentence; you’ll treat it for the rest of your life but you’ll be okay. Don’t let fear get in your way. I promise that no matter the result, it’s just better to know because then you can move on with life."