+
upworthy
Family

A Florida politician just released a powerful and honest statement about life with HIV.

Bob Poe hopes his video will help fight the stigma that surrounds HIV.

A few weeks ago, congressional candidate Bob Poe ran into a woman named Linda, who shared with him that she'd been recently diagnosed with HIV.

Poe says he wanted to hug her when she told him the news. She was (quite understandably) scared. In her mind, her life was over.

Poe did what he could to comfort her, helping her access resources and support. But Poe also related to her fear because he had his own secret: Like Linda, Poe is HIV-positive.

Poe was diagnosed with HIV in 1998, and he says he was still filled with fear-fueled shame when she approached him. In the moment, he wanted nothing more than to be able to hug her and offer her the knowledge that she wasn't alone in her fight, but he says he couldn't. He was scared.


There he was, trying to comfort a woman, knowing that he couldn't offer her the one thing he knew would help: reassurance that she's not alone.

This brings us to June 9, 2016, the day that Poe went from having only shared his diagnosis with a few family members to sharing it openly with thousands of people.

Poe released a video explaining his diagnosis. He started by assuring everyone that although he has HIV, he's perfectly healthy (phew!). With treatment, he can lead a normal life.

He explained why he was sharing his 18-year secret, telling the story of Linda and what her openness inspired him to do. He knew that if he wanted to help reduce the stigma that surrounds HIV, he needed to — as he says in the video — "be the difference."

For Poe, fighting the stigma surrounding HIV is more than just reassuring people like Linda that they'll be OK too — it serves as a public health service as well.

Stigma often keeps people from getting tested for HIV in the first place, and the Centers for Disease Control estimates there are more than 1.2 million Americans living with HIV. Of those, more than 150,000 people don't even know they have it.

And when you don't know you have the virus, you can't get treatment for it, and you're at risk of spreading it to others unknowingly.

The World Health Organization has found that stigma is actually one of the primary reasons people avoid getting tested. And when fewer people get tested, more people might unknowingly transmit the virus to others.

HIV and AIDS don't need to be the death sentences they once were, and as long as you treat them, they're usually not.

In the 1980s, the idea of contracting HIV was many people's greatest fear. Health issues were scary, but there was also an intense fear about the stereotypes of who gets HIV. For many years, people assumed if you had HIV, you must be gay or an IV drug user. And while certain groups are certainly at higher risk for acquiring the virus than others, no group is immune from it.

Luckily, in recent decades, treatment of HIV has improved to the point where people with the virus, like Poe. can lead normal lives.

By opening up about his diagnosis, Bob Poe is saving lives and helping people reimagine the stereotypes of what it looks like to have HIV.

In some capacity, on some issue, we all have the power to do this too.

You may not be HIV-positive. But you are, however, a person with a lifetime of experiences — both good and bad. Your words and your actions, based on those experiences, carry with them the power to help others when they need it most. Your words and actions can help people feel less alone.

In our lives, we all have a Linda. Think about who's yours and how you can help her!

You can watch Bob Poe's powerful, heartfelt announcement below.


Time travel back to 1905.

Back in 1905, a book called "The Apples of New York" was published by the New York State Department of Agriculture. It featured hundreds of apple varieties of all shapes, colors, and sizes, including Thomas Jefferson's personal favorite, the Esopus Spitzenburg.






Keep ReadingShow less
Health

Gen Xer explains sense of 'impending doom' that seems to define the Millennial generation

Somebody finally put it into words and a lot of Millenials are feeling seen.

A woman looks to the ground in dispair.

At the end of his YouTube video “Does Anyone Else Feel Like Everything Has Changed?” self-development influencer Stephen Antonioni makes a rather haunting observation: "In many ways, the world is a better place than it was yesterday, just judging by objective measures. But I can't help share the feeling that something is off and perhaps terribly so. And therefore, I have to ask the question: Does anyone else feel like everything has changed?"

The most popular comment on the video, which was liked over 28,000 times was written by a YouTuber named Tracy Smith. Even though, at 57, she’s a Gen Xer, her thoughts have resonated with thousands of Millenials.

“I am 57. Not only does it feel like ‘something wicked this way comes’ but there is also this feeling that the whole world is holding its breath. Almost as though we are all waiting for some catalyst or sign or event that puts an end to this feeling of being put on hold,” Smith wrote. “This vague, unexplained unease we feel. Something terrible lurking just out of our field of vision but we all feel it closing in. I cannot count the number of people who have told me they wish that whatever is going to happen would just get on with it. That this waiting for the thing in the darkness is unbearable.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Melissa Pateras explains how dry cleaning works.


Have you ever wondered what happens at the dry cleaners? Or are you like me, who just assumed the people at the dry cleaners were wizards and never questioned their magic? Turns out, dry cleaners aren't magic and there's actually a pretty interesting explanation of how they came to be and what they do.

Melissa Pateras is known on Tiktok for her laundry knowledge. Seriously, her ability to fold laundry is hypnotizing. This time, she created a video explaining what actually takes place at the dry cleaner and the internet is aghast.

Before Pateras explained what happens in the mysterious world behind the counter of a dry cleaner, she asked a few of her friends what they thought dry cleaning was. Their answers were...interesting to say the least.

One friend surmised, "You put it in a box, right...and then you let some wind, really fast wind, blow around on your clothes and it wipes off all the dirt." The friend, whose username is @unlearn16, continued with her working hypothesis, saying that the clothes are then blasted with infrared heat to sterilize the garments. While that is certainly an interesting theory, that's not what happens.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Doberman's blissful reaction while getting pampered at bathtime goes viral

This "scary" dog's next-level beauty routine proves there's nothing scary about him at all.

Representative Image from Canva

May this adorable video show that Doberman's don't deserve their bad reputation.

Let’s face it, Hollywood has given Doberman’s a bad reputation. So often they are depicted as the canine henchman to the evil villain, that many people assume that’s their temperament in real life.

But the truth is: like just about every dog on the planet, Dobermans are sweet, loyal and affectionate canine companions. And, much like Pit Bulls, they are not nearly as inherently aggressive as pop culture makes them out to be—especially when properly trained.

I mean, just take a look at Atlas. This goodest of good bois recently went viral on TikTok while getting a nice, relaxing bathtime session. He proved that not only are Doberman’s capable of extreme levels of chill, they can have a deep felt appreciation for some good old fashioned pampering.

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo by Gustavo Fring|Canva

Therapists explains being 'touched out' and gives tips to help

Just about every mother has experienced the feeling of being touched out. They may not know that's what it's called, or some may feel embarrassed to admit they're feeling that way due to fear of judgement. But when you think about it, being touched out, especially when you have younger kids seems inevitable.

The sense of your body not belonging to only you can start during pregnancy. Everything you do directly affects your developing fetus, and once the baby is born, it needs a lot of physical contact for proper brain, social, and emotional development. So babies are held a lot outside of feedings. Those babies turn into toddlers who then turn into early school agers, all of whom rely very heavily on co-regulation of their emotions and being physically near their parent to feel safe.

It's pretty much a constant state of being touched throughout much of the day. When psychologist, Dr. Raquel Martin reveals she too feels touched out in a video on Instagram, parents across the internet felt validated.

Keep ReadingShow less

No better time to grab a little shut eye.

For those in the military, sleep can mean the difference between life and death. But shut-eye can be very hard to come by, especially during active conflict.

According to Sharon Ackman, the U.S. Navy Pre-Flight School developed a scientific method to help its pilots fall asleep. Through this technique, 96% of the pilots were able to fall asleep in two minutes or less.

Keep ReadingShow less