Welcome to the TRT and Hormone Optimization YouTube channel with Steve Nivos and as a guest, Gil T. Welcome, Gil. Thank you, Steve. Always a pleasure being here. Welcome back on the channel.
And today I have a special question for you that pop up regularly in the comments of YouTube. So, how do I tell my girlfriends, my family, my friends that I am on TRT? How do I explain that to them that I am not on TRT?
gear for bodybuilding purposes or whatever. So what's it all about? How do you tell it? This is the TRT and Hormone Optimization YouTube channel. And if you want to learn all about the science-based information on this topic, consider subscribing, hit that notification bell, and you'll be on your way.
Okay, so this is less of a medical approach question. It is more of a psychological one or a social stigma per se. But it does come up in a clinical setting quite often, as you can imagine.
People do come in. with signs and symptoms of hypogonadism or low testosterone. And one of their concerns outside of just the actual physiological aspects of the process is, what is the social stigma, what they've heard on the media or the news or from their friends, and how is this going to be looked upon by their friends and family?
So for starters, you have to understand that, at least in the United States, medical records and medical information, unless subpoenaed by a court, is considered... private and protected under privacy laws specifically governed by HIPAA. So essentially, your medical provider is not going to disclose or discuss your treatments with anyone outside of the care of your treatment. With that said, it is completely up to you if you wish to disclose or divulge any information regarding any medical conditions or medications or treatments that you're currently using. And I would encourage people to do so in two ways.
First and foremost, to not be ashamed of any medical condition so long as it is being treated professionally and diligently by a professional because you have to understand that nobody came in asking to have a deficiency. This is something that just occurs over time as the process of aging and or lifestyles and injuries tend to occur. So by going out and actually fixing an underlying issue that is inhibiting the quality of your life. I think that's fairly commendable and it is not anything to shun your nose at or look down upon anybody.
No different than we wouldn't look down on a type one diabetic who has to take insulin injections for the rest of their life. So if people want to consider the androgenic anabolic use of testosterone for medical purposes, one that is, you know, indicative of steroid use or cheating, you have to understand that, again, this is nothing more than social stigma. It has nothing to do with the actual physical act of administering medication. I know injections tend to have a negative connotation, and this is partly due to the abuse of illicit drugs via the means of injection, but injections are just another form of administering medication.
I mean, if you work in a medical field or in a hospital setting or any form of a clinic, you understand that you have oral administrations, topical administrations, subcutaneous, intravenous, intramuscular. These are just forms of getting a compound into your systemic circulation for the means of administering therapeutic interventions. So by no means should you ever consider any medication that is prescribed to you for the means of treating a medical condition to be anything other than completely moral and ethical.
If you feel that you have a family member or friend that may not see this in the same light as I just explained, You're free to either share this video with them or maybe have a conversation in your own words. And lastly, if you don't feel that they're going to take kindly to it and you feel this is going to impede your relationship with that individual, maybe it is not the right time to approach them about it. Again, it's a shame when this becomes a member of your household, let alone someone you're in a committed relationship with because they should have your best interest at heart and want to see you do better, feel better and live the best quality of life you possibly can.
So hopefully they'd be coming in from a standpoint of. understanding that you are seeking treatment as opposed to going the abusive route and kind of self-medicating. So I wouldn't put too much stock into how do I portray this to others, because trying to impress other people or trying to put too much of your own emotion into what other people think of you is kind of a flawed approach to begin with. I think that it's very good to be considerate of others.
I think it's good to portray a positive image upon others so that they do see you in a positive light. But I don't think that is the goal of life. I think the key factor here is for yourself to see yourself.
in a positive light. And I do think that optimizing your hormone levels is definitely going to be one big step towards helping with that. And one of the big depression issues that we see is that people have low self-esteem, and a lot of that is driven by a lack of hormone balance.
So I think you're going to stop caring as much what others think once you are optimal. And if the time comes and you feel that they're ready to be involved in whatever it is that you're doing, that's fine. But like I said, your medical history and your therapeutic interventions are yours and nobody else's. Okay, great advice.
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