What to say to a teen patient who's sexually active?

[PRmerger]

A little G.K. Chesterton for ya’:

Tolerance is the virtue of a man with no convictions.

When learned men begin to use their reason, then I generally discover that they haven’t got any.

There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions.

These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.

Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable.

You cannot reason a man out of a position he didn’t reason himself into.

It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.

The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.

Moral decisions are always terribly complex for those who are unprincipled.

God Bless,
RyanL

And here’s one more:

I don’t need a church to tell me I’m wrong where I already know I’m wrong; I need a Church to tell me I’m wrong where I think I’m right.

 

[Crumpy]

To the OP: In some sense, you are bound to the scope of your professional activity.

We all could be fired at all of our jobs for proselytizing on the job, if we tried to convert everybody who was doing something wrong.

We’d all be poor choices for prison guards, from one standpoint, although that might be the best thing that ever happened to the inmates.

 

[LittleRose]

In today’s culture, pre-marital sexual activity is one of the more dangerous activies that one can engage in, putting both physical and emotional health at risk. Where are the warning labels when we need them?

Hehe. Good point. Perhaps some kind of high-tech strategically-placed temporary tatoo that fades after one marries? They can give them to all those young people whom they are thinking of vaccinating for HPV.

 

[Priscilla_Ann]

Teenagers who are sexually active need to stop and think about what they are really doing. Emotionally, they are not ready for a sexual relationship; it can be so destructive, especially for young women. The risk of pregnancy and STD’s is such a huge health risk. Teens (and others) need to understand that sex is not recreation. This is serious stuff, and one wrong choice can literally change their lives forever.

 

[klbarrett]

Well…UTI aren’t technically sexually transmitted, but then, you’ve heard of “honeymoon cystitis”? I tell my patients not to have sex until the infection is cleared up, not because it will be given to their partner, but because if you’ve already got an infection going on, you don’t need to make things worse. Besides…who wants to have sex when they have a UTI?! Like it’s not bad enough with all the bladder spasms and running to the bathroom every two seconds only to dribble a little bit and have to run again a few minutes later…yikes! Maybe she was looking for permission not to have sex because she was feeling miserable - “I called the doctor’s office and the nurse said we shouldn’t have sex until it’s all cleared up…sorry, honey…” Just a thought…
klb