Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STIs

by Jill Grimes

Sexually active young people urgently need this book. A 2009 Book of the Year, USA Book News “It can’t happen to me.” Many high school students and young adults, seduced by their sense of invincibility, are stunned when they are diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI). But the fact is that anyone can catch an no age group, social class, economic class, culture, religion, gender, or ethnic group is immune. To drive home the risks and realities of unprotected sex, Dr. Jill Grimes shares real-life stories of young people―medical students, college freshmen, teenagers, young parents, talented entrepreneurs―who have gotten an STI. Dr. Grimes narrates the story of Liz, who got syphilis; Sofia, diagnosed with gonorrhea and chlamydia; and Zoe, with pubic lice. She describes how Justin got herpes, Sean got trichomoniasis, and Luke contracted hepatitis C. The accounts of these young men and women and their exam-room conversations with their doctors evoke both the physical symptoms and complicated emotional reactions that often go together with infection. Fact sheets throughout the book explain each sexually transmitted infection and answer frequently asked questions about symptoms, treatment, and prevention. Used in high schools for the past five years, this new edition of Seductive Delusions shows how technological advances have speeded doctor-patient communication, including test results and treatment recommendations. It explains simplified STI testing, explores the frighteningly high incidence of date sexual assault, examines dramatic changes in cervical cancer prevention and Pap tests, and clarifies why HPV vaccines are now routinely recommended for all children―boys and girls. Whether reading the book from cover to cover or jumping directly to a specific disease, readers will relate to the dramatic stories while learning medically reliable information. Making emotionally and physically safe decisions about sex is easier when you know how STIs are spread, how to avoid getting one, what their symptoms are, and how they are diagnosed and treated.

320 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2016

Reviews

[Abi Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reading this book for study purposes and it gave me pretty much all the information I needed. I didn’t love the fiction element of the book as it was very descriptive of the characters’ lives, trip to the doctors etc and that was unnecessary when I just wanted the facts. I did consider skipping the stories in each chapter but sometimes the doctor’s explanations were quite helpful. As well as this, the fiction wasn’t strong and I think the author should have stuck to non-fiction writing.

As this book was American, it meant I had to take the statistics and treatments with a pinch of salt and I found the American attitudes towards sex a lot less liberal than the UK’s. It didn’t radiate modern, positive attitudes towards sex which I would have much preferred. Certain lines the characters said were quite misogynistic or if not misogynistic, very judgemental of people with STIs.

A huge downside of this book is the author chose not to include the experiences of LGBT people as the book would have been ‘twice as long’. I thought this was a bullshit excuse as she managed to include a cis-woman and cis-man in each chapter so I don’t see why some of these characters couldn’t have been from the LGBT community.

Overall, this was an easy read with the most useful sections being the fact sheets at the end of each chapter.