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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from HIV status disclosure.

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Los5782

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Hello good evening,
I'm located in the state of Pennsylvania. I come today to seek information, & would be very grateful to anyone who can provide insight for me. I am a 23 year old Male, again from PA & I am HIV+, which is the centerpoint of my inquiry here today.
I was born HIV+ contracted from my mother, I was from birth, raised by my grandmother, never had either parent in my life. I was raised on a 13 pill daily regime up until about the age of 13, & even though I was taking medication, I was unaware of my condition, the medication wasn't an indicator of anything to me, because I perceived it all as normal seeing as I didn't know of life without them, far as I knew everyone took meds.

Apparently from my understanding doctors had spoken to my grandmother & told her, that they were going to make me aware of my condition at some point; a now or later deal, my grandmother wanted to prolong it as much as possible, she worried about how I would cope with the news. At 12 years of age, the doctors felt that it wouldn't be appropriate to wait any longer seeing as I was going to become a teenager soon. After school one day, I was told I had an appointment, I didn't think anything of it, because I was seeing my doctor frequently. I was taken to the doctors office, by my grandmother & social worker at the time, at which point the doctor sat me down, and broke the news to me. Immediately tears began to roll down my face, I didn't say anything, I was just impacted & shocked in the worst way, felt like my world had just been turned upside down. I was shocked & confused, what I knew about HIV at that point in time of my life was minimal, I knew it to be a death sentence, something very bad I heard about in awareness commercials, I was confused because I didn't know what I did wrong to have the condition.

I went home that evening, locked myself in my room & cried, this pretty much sums up the next 10 years of my life in a nutshell. I went from an honor roll student, who excelled in most academic aspects, to a kid who began to be in constant troubles, legally & otherwise, began not doing any school work, I made it to just 7th grade before I stuck repeating the grade several times, on the verge of doing another year of 7th grade my adviser from probation suggested I just discontinue the traditional route & go after my GED to avoid further troubles. Years & years I spent with extreme anxiety, depression, & suicidal thoughts & some attempts, I literally locked myself away in my room daily for the first several years, afterwards I managed to advance a bit by actually leaving my room; but that's when I started to get into serious troubles & demonstrating severe behavioral issues. Here I am about a decade later from receiving the news, & I currently still struggle managing my emotions & thoughts, struggle interacting and coping with society. I spend most of my days every day, in the basement on the computer. I am currently, & have been attending therapy/counseling for about 6-7 years. After the first several years, I even had to readjust mentally just to be able to speak/express myself more cognitively.

My complaint & reasoning for thinking I can seek legal action is due to how poorly my situation was handled, the way the news was disclosed to me, & how it was handled afterwards. At 12 years old I did not have the correct skills to cope & handle the situation. Only person I had was my elderly grandmother who didn't even understand English. My doctor, social worker, & hospital were all involved & knew of the situation obviously, yet I wasn't even offered counseling. After this news I was basically sent back out on my way, I spent years & years afterwards on my own, going through the psychological hell I was experiencing, eventually several years later I was to get professional help. Again as I said 10 years later, & I'm still trying to put my life together.

Can anyone in this case, be held responsible to some degree for the situation I've had to endure?
 



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